'Cigarettes After Sex' - Album Review

Blissfully gloomy and marginally perverted; Cigarettes After Sex’s debut self-titled record takes you on an ambience infused, romantic journey.

New York based dream pop band Cigarettes After Sex began gaining recognition in late 2012 when their first EP, ‘I’, was uploaded to an anonymous YouTube channel. Now, in 2017 with multiple tours across the US and Europe under their belt, gaining them fans the world over, Cigarettes After Sex have released their debut LP to critical acclaim.

The 46-minute album is on the whole, downbeat and minimal, with similar sounding synths, drums and bass slowly weaving through 10 tracks. These similarities are not a discredit to the music, however. In fact, they are what ties the album together making it feel almost like a narrative filled with motifs of love and sex. ‘We had made love earlier that day with no strings attached. But I could tell that something had changed’ sings Greg Gonzalez on the record’s opener ‘K’; a downtempo ballad about the singer’s experience of going from casually hooking up with somebody to becoming somewhat infatuated with them, later declaring ‘I like you best when you’re just with me and no one else.’

Heart on sleeve lyrics and themes such as these continue to pop up throughout tracks on this album and although they’re not always romantic, they remain frank, which is refreshing in an age of outwardly faux ‘break up’ pop music. Lyrics like there’s nobody else around, so you open your dress and show me your tits’ in the album’s stand out track ‘Sunsetz’ and ‘you know full well that you are the patron saint of sucking cock’ in ‘Young and Dumb’ roll effortlessly from Gonzalez’s tongue with an androgynous tone. He also sings about watching a video of a woman he wants to touch in ‘Sweet’, elaborating ‘the one where you’re showering with wet hair dripping’ and ending the verse with ‘but it’s the way you smile that does it for me.’ These lyrics are at times so explicit that they could be seen as creepy, but their aloofness combined with Gonzalez’s mellow, vocal delivery gives them a romantic edge.

With its cinematic feel, minimalistic ethos and soul baring, raw lyrics, it seems ‘Cigarettes After Sex’ is sure to leave its listeners with a long lasting, sweet aftertaste.

‘Cigarettes After Sex’ is out now on Partisan Records

Tickets to their EU Tour can be purchased here.