Few artists have the ability to create a blatantly erotic album and somehow play it off as a sweet message about lost love and heartbreak, and yet the indie band, Cigarettes After Sex, does this yet again with the recent release of their second studio album, “Cry.”
Emerging out of El Paso, Texas in 2008, Cigarettes After Sex, is best known for their ethereal and dream-like musical stylings and gained popularity on YouTube following the release of the self-made EP, “I.” They quickly performed shows across the United States and Europe and gained more popularity before releasing their first, self-titled studio album in early June of 2017. Described as having an “androgenous voice,” lead singer and founding member, Greg Gonzalaz has been credited with making music reminiscent of lying in bed, hazy and romantic. Listening to their music seems to open the doors of nostalgia, making you forget that the name, Cigarettes After Sex may have a bit of influence on the overall theme of the album and the lyrics.
While a majority of the songs do take on a rather risque theme, songs like “Don’t Let Me Go,” an anthem about lost love and by contrast, “Falling In Love,” use romantic lyrics like “and my heart/goes out to you/wherever you are” and “with you, baby/I feel I’m falling in love with all my heart” in the innocent manner that the instrumental music would suggest. This sense of innocence is what draws listeners in and keeps them coming back for more.
However, perhaps the most striking feature, the new album is the fact that it masks some pretty heavy sexual undertones in a way that takes listeners by surprise. From the songs “Kiss It Off Me” to “Hentai,” one should expect the lyrics to be a little obscene yet the band has the ability to mask this with the overall melody and the ethereal undertones, an ability that should not be overlooked. Part of the reason Cigarettes After Sex gained such a quick cult following is due to the fact that they have the ability to take beautifully written lyrics regarding sex, drugs and other explicit content and create something so entirely new yet so incredibly nostalgic.
In many ways Cigarettes After Sex is contradicting what many people associate with over-sexualized songs. Yes, the lyrics are obscene but not in a way that seems to attack or criminalise the subject. Raw and unapologetic, the lyrics do not scream the message of modern love but seem to whisper the message like a distant memory.
“Cry” is pushing the boundaries that Cigarettes After Sex already set for themselves. The album combines the sounds we already know and love with the powerful lyrics we did not yet realize we needed. At times, the sound comes across as a bit too much, and this is not an album to play at family events but it somehow holds the feelings everyone who loves experienced, whether they would like to admit it or not.
Image from KEXP via YouTube
