Cry is the sophomore album from the band Cigarettes After Sex, formed by frontman Greg Gonzalez in 2008. After emerging from El Paso, Texas with the breakout hit “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby”, the band quickly relocated to Brooklyn, New York to record their first album, Cigarettes After Sex. Through this self-titled album came another hit, “Apocalypse”, which established the group’s place as a solid and influential dream-pop-slash-indie band.
The band’s first album is remembered mostly for its melancholic and wallowing melodies, paired with its hopeless romantic lyrics. It seems that Gonzalez has chosen to continue with this same theme on the group’s sophomore project, which has almost the exact same tone and cadence as their first. While there is definitely an audience for this sound, as the group has learned, it does seem that the group has hindered their growth- perhaps because they feel the need to further explore the themes presented in the first album, or because they feel that these messages resonate with the audience they are trying to reach.
If nothing else, Cry presents Gonzalez with an avenue to conduct a deep exploration of the sexual relations between himself and his partners, and the emotional toll they have taken on him. A quick glance at the track listing paired with the very name of the group could give you an accurate reading on the album’s lyrical contents. While the lyrics can lack depth at times, and can be painstakingly obvious and blunt, the group definitely knows that this content will appeal to the fanbase they have created for themselves.
With Cry, the group has created yet another masterful blend of dream-pop, lo-fi, and indie, all paired with Gonzalez’s lovely androgynous voice. Even though there is not much sonic progression from their first project, the sounds of the album are undeniably beautiful in their own sad way. Whether or not you care for the group’s lyrical content, the album is definitely worth a listen. The emotional intelligence of the instrumentation provides a sad soundtrack that is reflective of the tumultuous inner world that comes with the process of dating and heartbreak.
Cigarettes After Sex seem to know their strengths. They are a group that makes breakup songs, pandering to the loneliness and isolation that we all feel when navigating love and relationships. While Cry is comparably less poetic and metaphorical than their previous work, the band still manages to create a sonically beautiful album that is sure to pull at the heartstrings of anyone who has ever fallen out of love.
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