''Cry'' is the second studio album by American
ambient pop band
Cigarettes After Sex
Cigarettes After Sex is an American dream pop band formed in El Paso, Texas, in 2008 by Greg Gonzalez. The band is known for their ethereal, limerent and often dream-like musical style, lyrics often based on the themes of romance and love, as w ...
, released through
Partisan Records on October 25, 2019. It was preceded by the single "Heavenly".
Background
Frontman Greg Gonzalez said: "We made
'Cry''to just be a snapshot of a moment, to capture the feeling of something. And it's flawed, but the fact that it's flawed means that it's an honest portrayal. And that's what is perfect about it to me."
Gonzalez also remarked that he views the album as a "film" as it was "shot in this stunning, exotic location
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
, and it stitches all these different characters and scenes together, but in the end is really about romance, beauty & sexuality."
Elaborating on the band's style, Gonzalez said that after experiencing heartbreak, the music he needed was "very gentle" and "very peaceful, because internally I was going through such turmoil. The music that I make became a reaction to the life that happened."
Gonzalez wrote "Falling in Love" over two years. He states, "I wrote the chorus in the middle of a bunch of tours, very far from love or real relationships, and trying to write that song would've felt dishonest. By the time we got into the studio, I was seeing my current girlfriend and wrote from a real perspective. It felt very strange, in a way, to finally have that."
Critical reception
Alisha Mughal of ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' called the album a "gentler and more vulnerable" than the band's debut album, and writing that the album "will make you cry, because Gonzalez knows what he's doing. It's cathartic, stunning, it'll awaken your senses and it's not to be missed."
On the other hand Timothy Monger of
AllMusic stated that "for a project based on amorous and sensual pleasures, Cigarettes After Sex feels a little too one-dimensional".
Year-end rankings
Track listing
Personnel
Cigarettes After Sex
* Greg Gonzalez – vocals, guitar
* Randall Miller – bass
* Jacob Tomsky – drums
* Phillip Tubbs – keyboards
Production
* Greg Gonzalez – production
* Craig Silvey – mixing
* Max Prior – additional engineering
*
Greg Calbi – mastering
Artwork
* Randall Miller – graphic design
* Donovan Brien – additional packaging design
* Alessandro Puccinelli – cover photo (''Mare 345 – Seascape'')
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
2019 albums
Cigarettes After Sex albums
Partisan Records albums