English indie four-piece Alt-J have announced the official departure of one of their founding members: bassist/guitarist Gwillym ‘Gwil’ Sainsbury.
The announcement was light on details, but the Leeds export (and Aussie tour favourites) broke the news to their fans via their Twitter account, stating that Sainsbury’s choice to walk from the band was “purely a personal decision.”
The remaining members of Alt-J – frontman Joe Newman, drummer Thom Green, and multi-instrumentalist Gus Unger-Hamilton – also emphasise that there is no bad blood over Sainsbury’s departure after 6 years with the group.
With regret, Gwil is leaving alt-J. This is purely a personal decision and as our best friend we support him completely.
— Δ (alt-J) (@alt_J) January 11, 2014
Though Alt-J came to prominence in 2012 with their debut album An Awesome Wave – and the popularity of singles such as ‘Breezeblocks’ and ‘Tessellate’ – the band actually formed in 2007 after its four members met studying at Leeds University.
Alt-J released their first EP in 2011, the quasi-self-titled ∆, before releasing An Awesome Wave the following year, which went on to win the coveted Mercury Prize in November 2012.
The band’s rising popularity has kept them extremely busy tour-wise, even named as one of 2013’s ‘Hardest Working’ bands by Songkick in a list tracking the year’s busiest touring artists (pure speculation: but it may account for Sainsbury’s decision to leave the band).
Alt-J covered a total distance 251,443 km and played 164 live shows in 2013, thanks in part to the band’s three individual tours to Australia in around 12 months, including a visit for the Laneway Festival 2013 then Mushroom’s relaunch party in February, before heading back again in July for another headline tour and at Splendour In The Grass as the (not so) ‘Mystery Band’.
Their popularity in Australia can also be seen on popular digital music platform Spotify, as the eighth most streamed artist in Australia while An Awesome Wave was the seventh most streamed album of 2013.
There is no further statement from the band as to their future plans or whether they will find a replacement.
The band composed the soundtrack for the new Toby Jones film Leave To Remain, and debuted a new song called ‘Warm Foothills’ at their Reading 2013 set (watch/listen below), as well as working on the full-length follow-up to An Awesome Wave.
