In an interview with Pitchfork shortly before the album’s release, he explains his use of vocal effects: “I’m trying to depict the thing physically as opposed to just saying the words and hoping the listener will come around to the image.” The idea of music as a material illustration rather than just a descriptor is obvious on an album swarming with sounds both inventive and quintessential for the indie genre, like the distorted female voice in “Headroom Piano” reminiscent of a TV Girl song, the loose strum pattern and chill drum beat of “Ain’t It Easy” or the piercing, persistent buzz that takes us from the end of “Cross the Sea” through to the start of “Blessing.”īut though some sonic elements lean toward nostalgia, God Save the Animals is chiefly forward-facing. The remarkable match between the album’s lyrical content and its sound is Alex G’s bread and butter. Raucous hyperpop auto-tune is paired with piano melodies fitting the bill of a 2000s pop ballad on “Immunity.” “Runner” has a loose, ’90s alt-rock sound straight out of the One Tree Hill soundtrack, while “Mission” sounds like something from the Christian rock station you stumble upon while road-tripping. Alex G’s signature vocal modulation returns on tracks like “Ain’t It Easy” and “Forgive,” while extreme distortion on “S.D.O.S.” has Darth Vader singing the listener an underwater serenade. The diversity of the album’s subject matter mirrors its varied musical influences. On the bluegrass-inspired “Miracles,” an acoustic track singular in its lightheartedness, Alex G unites these topics to create the thematic center of the album: “You and me, we got better pills than ecstasy / They’re miracles and crosses, miracles and crosses.” While the switch is made obvious by its polished production, God Save the Animals retains that touch of moody, heartfelt strangeness that makes Alex G’s work so special.Īs the title suggests, religious themes permeate the album’s 13 songs, beginning with the very first lyrics of the album’s opener, “After all.” Alex G sings, “People come and people go away / Yeah, but God with me he stayed.” Biblical references like “the flood” in the eerily repetitive “Blessing,” and a “life of revelation” in the orchestral “Immunity” run brazenly alongside themes of drug addiction, self-doubt and an unexpected sense of optimism. God Save the Animals marks a change for Alex G: It is his first album to be made in a recording studio. Now, eight albums and more than a decade later, Alex G manages to innovate again on God Save the Animals, a stunningly unconventional collection of songs that leaves the listener simultaneously curious, unsettled and hopeful. Though his sound has inevitably progressed since his 2010 debut Race, the distinctive eccentricity of his indie folk and rock has remained consistent. Recording, producing and self-releasing music from his bedroom before signing to Orchid Tapes in 2014, Alex G is an independent artist through and through - and a unique one at that. Before going viral on Tiktok was a musician’s quickest path to fame, the indie singer-songwriter followed an earlier model of the internet music career, one that took place on Bandcamp, an online music service platform. This is especially apparent with the lyric "time don't heal a broken gun." - a play on the band's name, but nonetheless, a statement of sorrow, heartbreak, and missing something that once was.Alex G has always been weird. The lyrics recall a "diamond shining bright in the rain," and seem to be coming from someone that is mournful and nostalgic for days gone by. However, beyond being and ode to Jayne Mansfield, the song resonates with anyone that has lost a love or someone special to them. Guitarist Traci Guns supposedly had a fondness for Mansfield while growing up. One verse of the song is "Now she's breaking hearts in heaven, shining bright in the sky" which is an acknowledgement of Mansfield's celebrity while alive, and the affection that young men had towards her. Mansfield was killed in an automobile accident in 1967. Jayne Mansfield, an American actress, pin-up model, and blonde sex symbol, famous in the 1950's and 1960's for her cleavage revealing outfits and curvy hourglass figure, was supposedly the inspiration behind the song. Billboard Hot 100 and also charted at number 53 in the U.K. Guns featured guitarist Traci Guns, who was the "Guns" part of the original Guns `n' Roses, with Axl Rose. "Ballad of Jayne" is a 1989 power ballad by the band L.A.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |