Alt-J Discuss Miley Cyrus, New Album 'This Is All Yours'

Alt-J are quickly becoming one of the most popular groups in the universe, but they haven't reached the stage where people actually recognize them.

"It's wonderful to maintain some personal anonymity," keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton told the Irish Mirror. "And we don't have to deal with paparazzi. We can ride buses in London without anyone batting an eyelid and then I'll be playing on the David Letterman Show the next week, so that's pretty cool."

The Leeds group broke onto the scene with 2012's An Awesome Wave, and then followed that with 2014's This Is All Yours, which features the hit single "Left Hand Free."

"The first album seemed to transcend different musical tribes in terms of the people who listened to it," Unger-Hamilton said. "So we realised it was OK to make albums like that - we have a fanbase who trust us. So we thought, 'Let's do the same again'."

The new album came about despite a major snag when founding member Gwil Sainsbury left the group in January.

"We always knew Gwil struggled with the lifestyle of being in a band," Unger-Hamilton said. "So when he turned up and said, 'I'm going to leave', we understood why."

But things are going well. The trio collected the UK's famed Mercury Prize for An Awesome Wave, and have a big fan in Miley Cyrus.

"She mentioned she was a fan of our music on Twitter," Unger-Hamilton said. "Which obviously got us a few thousand more followers.

"Miley's was the first music gig we had ever been to at the O2 and it was big production to the max. We're kind of like, 'How are we going to live up to that in the same venue?' But I think we're a different act, so it's going to be fine."

Oh, that's right. Alt-J will be playing the biggest show of their lives at London's O2 Arena in January.

Here are the remainder of their North American dates this year:

10/14: Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre

10/15: Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre

10/16-17: Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater

10/18-19: San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island

10/20: Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre

10/21: Pomona, CA @ Fox Theater

10/24: San Diego, CA @ Soma

10/24-26: Las Vegas, NV @ Life is Beautiful

10/27: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex

10/28: Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium

10/31: Minneapolis, MN @ Myth

11/01-02: Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre

11/04: Tulsa, OK @ Cains Ballroom

11/05: Dallas, TX @ Southside Ball Room

11/06: Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center

11/07-09: Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest

11/10: Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore

11/11: Toronto, ON @ Kool Kaus

11/12: Montreal, QC @ Metropolis

11/14: Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theater

11/16: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre

11/18: Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre

11/19: Washington, DC @ Echostage

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