Dream-ambient pop band Cigarettes After Sex (Greg Gonzalez, Randall Miller, and Jacob Tomsky) return with their third studio album, X’s, under Partisan Records on July 12, 2024. Known for hits “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby” and “Apocalypse,” the band has established a unique slow, hazy indie rock sound. Their 2017 self-titled album and Cry (2019) were held together by the band’s explicit romantic discoveries and hushed vocals. Whereas with X’s, lead singer Greg Gonzalez focuses more on the intimacy and loss of a four-year relationship. The album’s ten tracks center on this specific heartache with the band’s usual one-note atmosphere and Gonzalez’s stream-of-consciousness songwriting.
Opening title track, “X’s” quickly sets the scene of love and loss with breathy, delicate vocals and soft guitar riffs. “Honest with the love you give, careless with the way you talk / Say you want it just like this, sweet how the words slip.” Based on Gonzalez’s experiences growing up in El Paso, Texas, following track “Tejano Blue” effortlessly embraces youthful desire with its hypnotic beat and deep bass lines. “So get in the waves, swim in your leather / I always will make it feel like you were the last one.”
Despite the reverb heavy guitar, “Silver Sable” reflects on the relationship’s slowly fading passion. On the chorus, Gonzalez sings: “Stay with me now, I don’t wanna be the one for you / Know how you feel by the way that you hold me / And when we kiss we don’t need to close our / Eyes in the dark at all.”
The atmosphere shifts further into a fearful state of nostalgia as the lyrics get more personal on tracks such as “Dark Vacay” and “Dreams From Bunker Hill.” The former referencing Gonzalez hitting a disastrous low point following the breakup, thus diving deeper into his vulnerability. Carried by its brutal questioning chorus, the seventh track, “Baby Blue Movie,” tenderly forces listeners to reevaluate their views on romance instead of embracing an unrealistic, idealized version. “Don’t you understand? / Don’t you know the love that you want’s all the love that you needed?”
Contrasting the album’s overall dreamy melodies, tracks “Holding you, Holding me”— “When it gets hot / The breeze is hitting slowly / And I get high / On every word you told me.” —and “Hot” capture the sharp desire and attachment the singer longs for. Their faster pace and electric production showcases the band’s ability to highlight romance and intimacy in the face of complex relationships.
Closing with “Ambien Slide,” Gonzalez’s soft spoken vocals reach a point of helpless desperation as he accepts the end of his relationship. “And it seems that you’ll never feel that good again / If time doesn’t heal, you’ll never feel that good again.” With a bass line borrowed from “Tejano Blue,” the song’s charged tempo juxtaposes the heartache and despair echoing in the singer’s voice. It grounds listeners into the shallow, lonely soundscape created by the band while offering a natural conclusion to the theme. Paired with a newfound perspective on love and loss, Cigarettes After Sex’s X’s explores the band’s intimate and honest depth in a new light without deviating from their familiar sound.
