Alt-J and Aphex Twin are currently battling it out for the number one spot in this week's album charts and at the moment, it looks like Alt-J's This Is All Yours is going to pip Aphex Twin's Syro to the post, with them around 9,000 copies ahead of them in the midweek chart.
This will be Alt-J's highest chart entry to date and the band from Leeds have really managed to establish themselves as one of the UK's most innovative new acts over the past couple of years, since they released their debut LP An Awesome Wave. The group have bagged the best album at the Ivor Novello Awards, as well as the 2012 Mercury Prize and it looks like they're now going to be able to add a number one album to their achievements.
Speaking to the Official Charts company, though, keyboard player and vocalist Gus Unger-Hamilton literally can't believe the success, telling the publication: "Don't say that. No, I don't really want to know. I'm literally squirming. Even [if we do end up at Number 1] I think I'll still be a bit sceptical." An Awesome Wave may have only peaked at number 13 in the chart, with their single Breezeblocks going in at number 75, but Gus also adds that the group don't focus all of their attention on what chart position they manage to get.
Alt-J are on course for a number one album (WENN)
"No, we've never really bothered the charts too much. I remember when the first album came out, we were quite excited about its chart position and we were very happy with 13," he said. "I remember being in a hotel with Gwil [Sainsbury, the band's former guitarist] when we found out - we were thinking up loads of our favourite albums and looking up where they had peaked, and we realised that we'd beaten quite a lot of our favourite albums."
We'll find out on Sunday whether or not Alt-J will manage to get their very first number one.
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