X's (album)

Last updated
X's
Cigarettes After Sex - X's.png
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 12, 2024 (2024-07-12)
Length38:13
Label
Producer Greg Gonzalez
Cigarettes After Sex chronology
Cry
(2019)
X's
(2024)
Singles from X's
  1. "Tejano Blue"
    Released: February 28, 2024
  2. "Dark Vacay"
    Released: April 16, 2024

X's is the upcoming third studio album by American ambient pop band Cigarettes After Sex, scheduled to be released through Partisan Records on July 12, 2024. It was preceded by the release of two singles, "Tejano Blue" and "Dark Vacay".

Contents

Background

Following the band's second studio album, Cry (2019), they would release several singles which were recorded during the sessions of their self-titled album. [1] X's sees the lead musician Greg Gonzalez touching "slow-dance pop ballads" of the 1970s and 1980s, while the lyrics deal with romance and intimacy. [2] To Gonzalez, the album "feels brutal". The musician revealed how he actually had to "write" and "sing" about a loss (of a four-year relationship), instead of just talking about it which would simply "scratch the surface". [3] Only then, he would be able to "learn from it" or "relive" it instead of just trying to forget about it. [4]

The album's lead single, "Tejano Blue", was released on February 28, 2024. The album was officially announced on the same day. [5] The song is inspired by Gonzalez's life in his hometown, El Paso, Texas, who also said:

"I grew up in El Paso & Tejano music is huge there. You could go to a lot of the bars in the city and hear artists like Selena, Los Ángeles Azules & La Mafia playing over the speakers. It was in the atmosphere around me back then, but I always rejected it and gravitated towards anything else I was attracted to really. Years later when I was living in New York City I finally started listening to Selena's "Como la Flor" at the same time that I was also listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins. I had the idea then to try to combine both of their sounds somehow, which felt a bit strange, but also felt like it was coming from a genuine place of rediscovering & finally connecting with the music that I heard around me in my youth." [6]

"Dark Vacay" was released as the album's second single on April 16, 2024. [7] Gonzalez explained that the song was about someone he fell in love with a long time ago and how they fell apart while travelling through Europe, eventually breaking up after. [8]

In support of the album, the band will embark on the X's World Tour throughout 2024 and 2025. [9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Greg Gonzalez.

X's track listing [10]
No.TitleLength
1."X's"3:33
2."Tejano Blue"3:54
3."Silver Sable"3:52
4."Hideaway"4:37
5."Holding You, Holding Me"3:30
6."Dark Vacay"3:33
7."Baby Blue Movie"4:05
8."Hot"3:57
9."Dreams from Bunker Hill"3:39
10."Ambien Slide"3:33
Total length:38:13

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selena</span> American Tejano singer (1971–1995)

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, known professionally as Selena, was an American singer. Referred to as the "Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century. In 2020, Billboard magazine put her in third place on their list of "Greatest Latino Artists of All Time", based on both Latin albums and Latin songs chart. Media outlets called her the "Tejano Madonna" for her clothing choices. She also ranks among the most influential Latin artists of all time and is credited for catapulting the Tejano genre into the mainstream market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Peña</span> American singer

Jennifer Marcella Peña is a Grammy Awards and Latin Grammy Awards nominated Mexican American Tejano/Latin pop singer known as "The Princess of Tejano". Peña reached a milestone in her career of over 3.5 million records sold internationally. Peña was born in San Antonio, Texas, and is the third and youngest daughter of Jaime and Mary Peña with other sisters Janet and Jackie. Peña is of Mexican descent native to the state of Texas, raised in Corpus Christi, Texas.

<i>Amor Prohibido</i> 1994 studio album by Selena

Amor Prohibido is the fourth studio album by American singer Selena, released on March 22, 1994, by EMI Latin. Having reached a core fan base, the label aimed to broaden her appeal with the next studio release. Finding it challenging to write a follow-up hit after "Como la Flor" (1992), Selena's brother A. B. Quintanilla enlisted the assistance from band members Ricky Vela and Pete Astudillo with writing the album's songs. The resulting album has a more mature sound featuring experimental production that blends diverse musical styles from ranchera to hip-hop music. Amor Prohibido is a Tejano cumbia album modernized with a synthesizer-rich delivery using a minimalist style that was quintessential in early 1990s Tejano music.

<i>Selena</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Selena

Selena is the self-titled debut studio album by American Tejano singer Selena, released on October 17, 1989, by EMI Latin. Its music incorporates a range of contemporary genres with a mix of cumbia and regional styles of Mexican music. The album was released following company president Jose Behar's failed crossover request for the singer. The project was denied by the heads of EMI Records' pop division, believing the singer should first strengthen her fanbase. Selena's brother and principal record producer and songwriter, A.B. Quintanilla III fought to remain the singer's producer. The band introduced Pete Astudillo and Joe Ojeda, who contributed to the album's experimental production and songwriting. Aside from A.B., Selena worked with two Mexican songwriters, Alejandro Montealegre and Reinaldo Ornelas.

<i>Selena Live!</i> 1993 live album by Selena

Live! or Selena Live! is a live album by American Tejano pop singer Selena, which was released on May 4, 1993, by EMI Latin. The album was re-released on September 22, 2002, as being part of the Selena: 20 Years of Music collection; which included spoken liner notes by her family, friends and her former band members Selena y Los Dinos. Live! includes three cumbia-influenced studio tracks, while the rest of the album consists of live versions of previously released songs. The album was recorded during a free concert at the Memorial Coliseum in Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 7, 1993. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in its first year, double platinum in 1995, and 8× platinum in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tejano Music Awards</span>

The Tejano Music Awards (TMA) is an accolade created by former arts teacher and musician Rudy Trevino in 1980. The accolade recognizes outstanding performers of Tejano music, a German polka-based Latin music genre recorded in Spanish or English-language. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by Tejano artists and bands and the presentation of all awards. The Tejano Music Awards are annually presented in San Antonio, Texas, although the ceremony has been presented in other cities such as Eagle Pass, Texas in the past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Astudillo</span> American singer

Pedro Astudillo, known as Pete Astudillo, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Referred to as "the Latino Babyface", he is regarded as the mastermind behind Selena's sound, as he collaborated or coauthored the singer's top-selling and most popular recordings that cemented him into music history. Astudillo wrote or collaborated on some of the most popular Tejano music songs of the 1990s and was inducted into the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame in 2019. His impact on the United States Latin music scene lies in his role as a songwriter collaborator, according to Billboard magazine.

Mazz is a Tejano band originally from Brownsville, Texas. The band was known for their idiosyncratic and innovative form of Tejano cumbia which made them distinguishable among their counterparts. Mazz became one of the most popular Tejano music bands during the genre's 1990s golden age. Mazz won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Tejano Album in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and in 2009, the most wins for a Tejano musician. They landed their first major recording contract with EMI Latin in the early 1990s, before switching to Freddie Records in 1999. Joe Lopez and Jimmy Gonzalez formed Mazz in 1978 before disbanding and creating smaller bands throughout their careers. Gonzalez was known for blending a variety of genres into his basic Tejano sound, a formula he continued to use up until his final release, Porque Todavía te Quiero (2018). Gonzalez was pronounced dead in San Antonio, Texas on June 6, 2018, after suffering from low blood sugar as a result of his diabetes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Debes Jugar</span> 1993 single by Selena

"No Debes Jugar" is a song recorded by American recording artist Selena and released as the lead single from her first live album Live! (1993). It was composed by Selena y Los Dinos keyboardist Ricky Vela and Selena's brother and principal record producer A.B. Quintanilla III and produced by Quintanilla III and Argentine music producer Bebu Silvetti. It is an uptempo Mexican cumbia song with influences of Rock en Español which is centered on female empowerment. Lyrically, the song describes a woman who threatens to leave her unappreciative boyfriend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler, the Creator</span> American rapper (born 1991)

Tyler Gregory Okonma, known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, director, and fashion designer. Okonma has been praised in the media as one of the most influential figures of pop culture of his generation, thanks to his unique, eclectic and colorful music and fashion styles, popularizing rap music as a "Internet phenomenon" that included a new wave of alternative hip-hop and R&B artists during the 2010s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pity Sex</span> American alternative rock band

Pity Sex are an American alternative rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The band formed in 2011, and released two studio albums – Feast of Love (2013) and White Hot Moon (2016) – prior to their split. The band combined elements of indie rock, shoegaze, dream pop and noise rock in their music, and were described by Pitchfork as "post-coital pop-punk". The band announced its reunion in 2022, as part of the Sound & Fury festival line-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV Girl</span> American indie pop band

TV Girl is an American indie pop band from San Diego, California, consisting of Brad Petering, Jason Wyman, and Wyatt Harmon. As of 2023, the group is based in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cigarettes After Sex</span> American dream pop band

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 well as Gonzalez's voice, which has been described as "androgynous". While marketed as an ambient pop band, Cigarettes After Sex are also considered to be shoegaze, slowcore and indie rock.

<i>Cigarettes After Sex</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Cigarettes After Sex

Cigarettes After Sex is the eponymous debut studio album by American ambient pop band Cigarettes After Sex. It was released on June 9, 2017, by Partisan Records and received positive reviews from critics. As of May 2018, it had sold over 20,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glaive (musician)</span> American musician (born 2005)

Ash Blue Gutierrez, known professionally as Glaive, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. After posting a string of hyperpop songs to SoundCloud during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that earned him a cult following, he signed a record deal with Interscope Records and released his debut extended play, Cypress Grove, in 2020. His debut album, I Care So Much That I Don't Care at All, was released in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yard Act</span> British rock band

Yard Act is a British rock band from Leeds, West Yorkshire, composed of James Smith, Ryan Needham (bass), Sam Shipstone (guitar) and Jay Russell (drums). Their debut album, The Overload, was released on 21 January 2022 and debuted at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart. They released their second album, Where's My Utopia?, on 1 March 2024.

Patricia Donita Torres is an American singer of Tejano music. Known for her vocal versatility, she has been referred to as the "princess of Tejano music" by The Monitor. Torres began her musical career as a trumpet player for Blue Harmony. The band was discovered by Albert Esquivel in 1980, after which they released their debut album with production handled by Manny Guerra. In 1982, Torres formed the Patsy Torres Band and signed with Bob Grever's Cara Records. After obtaining a college degree in science, Torres decided to pursue a career as a pediatrician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">X's World Tour</span> 2024 concert tour by Cigarettes After Sex

The X's World Tour is an upcoming concert tour by American dream pop band Cigarettes After Sex, in support of their third studio album, X's (2024). The tour will begin on August 31, 2024, in Montreal, Canada, and is currently set to conclude on March 19, 2025, in Auckland, New Zealand, after visiting every inhabited continent.

References

  1. Castro, Lauren (February 28, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex Is More Addictive Than Ever". Texas Monthly . Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  2. Ragusa, Paolo (February 28, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex Announce New Album X's, Detail World Tour". Consequence . Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  3. Pearis, Bill (February 28, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex announce new LP & 2024 tour, playing Madison Square Garden". BrooklynVegan . Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  4. Carter, Daisy (February 28, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex confirm new album X's with world tour announcement". DIY . Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  5. Deville, Chris (February 28, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex Announce New Album 'X's': Hear "Tejano Blue"". Stereogum . Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  6. Kelly, Tyler Damara (February 28, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex announce their forthcoming album, X's". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  7. Rettig, James (April 16, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex – "Dark Vacay"". Stereogum . Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  8. Kelly, Tyler Damara (April 16, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex share new track, "Dark Vacay"". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  9. Grimes, Navier (February 28, 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex Announce World Arena Tour + New LP, Share "Tejano Blue" Single". Live Nation Entertainment. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  10. "X's / Cigarettes After Sex" . Retrieved March 7, 2024 via Tidal.