Cry (Cigarettes After Sex album)

Cry
Studio album by
Cigarettes After Sex
Released October 25, 2019
Recorded July 2016 - June 2017
Genre
Length 40:26
Label Partisan
Producer Greg Gonzalez
Cigarettes After Sex chronology
Cigarettes After Sex
(2017) 		Cry
(2019)

Cry is the second studio album by American ambient pop band Cigarettes After Sex, 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, 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

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 68/100
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic
Clash 8/10
Exclaim! 9/10
The Guardian
The Independent
NME
Pitchfork 4.0/10

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Cry received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 from 11 critic scores. Alisha Mughal of Exclaim! 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

Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Afisha Daily (Russia) The Best Foreign Albums of 2019
13

Track listing

All tracks are written by Greg Gonzalez

No. Title Length
1. "Don't Let Me Go" 4:22
2. "Kiss It Off Me" 4:29
3. "Heavenly" 4:48
4. "You're the Only Good Thing in My Life" 4:35
5. "Touch" 4:52
6. "Hentai" 4:45
7. "Cry" 4:16
8. "Falling in Love" 4:05
9. "Pure" 4:14
Total length: 40:26

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