"Tessellate" is a song by English

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

alt-J Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwilym Sainsbur ...

from their debut studio album, ''

An Awesome Wave ''An Awesome Wave'' is the debut album by English indie rock band alt-J, released on 25 May 2012 through Infectious. The album includes the singles "Matilda"/"Fitzpleasure", " Breezeblocks" and "Tessellate". It peaked at number thirteen on the U ...

'' (2012). The song was written by Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton, Gwilym Sainsbury and Thom Green and produced by

Charlie Andrew Charles Andrew, (born 1980) is a British record producer, mixer and songwriter. He is best known for his work with indie band Alt-J. In 2013 he was awarded 'Breakthrough Producer of the Year' by his peers at Music Producers Guild awards, in ...

. It was originally released on 13 October 2011 as a double A-side single with “ Bloodflood”, before being released separately on 13 July 2012 as the album's third single.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Tessellate" was first released on YouTube on 9 July 2012. The video was directed by Ben Newbury and is an artistic reworking of the famous painting '' The School of Athens'' by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

, using 21st century characters in a room similar to the painting's background ( Panthéon, in Paris). To reinforce the connection, one of the characters at the very beginning of the clip is wearing a printed T-shirt of the painting.

Covers

In 2013, "Tessellate" was covered by English singer and songwriter

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

on the deluxe edition of '' Halcyon Days'', the reissue of her second studio album, '' Halcyon''. English

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

band Mumford & Sons also covered the song on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

on 25 September 2012; their version was included on the compilation album '' BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2013''.

Media usage

The song is used as the opening theme song to the

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series ''

Ingress Ingress may refer to: Science and technology * Ingress (signal leakage), the passage of an outside signal into a coaxial cable * Ingress filtering, a computer network packet filtering technique * Ingress protection rating, a protection level that ...

''. The song also features in Episode 5, Series 6 of

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

– Alt-J (∆) *

Producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

s –

Lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

– Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton, Gwilym Sainsbury, Thom Green * Label: Infectious

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Ellie Goulding 2012 singles 2012 songs Alt-J songs Ellie Goulding songs Indietronica songs Songs written by Thom Sonny Green