Cry (Cigarettes After Sex album) explained

Cry
Type:studio
Artist:Cigarettes After Sex
Cover:Cigarettes After Sex - Cry.png
Recorded:July 2016 – June 2017
Genre:
Length:40:26
Label:Partisan
Producer:Greg Gonzalez
Prev Title:Cigarettes After Sex
Prev Year:2017
Next Title:X's
Next Year:2024

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".[1]

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."[2] 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."[1]

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."[2]

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."[3]

Critical reception

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

Personnel

Cigarettes After Sex

Production

Artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2019)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[4] 61
Latvian Albums (LAIPA)[5] 19
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[6] 10

Year-end charts

Chart (2022)! scope="col"
Position
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[7] 58

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cigarettes After Sex Announce New Album Cry, Share New Song "Heavenly": Listen. Pitchfork. Yoo. Noah. Bloom. Madison. August 28, 2019. October 25, 2019.
  2. Web site: Cigarettes After Sex Are Purposefully in Their Feelings on 'Cry'. Exclaim!. Mughal. Alisha. October 24, 2019. October 25, 2019.
  3. Web site: Pulgar . E.R. . 2019-10-28 . Cigarettes After Sex Make Peace With Their Misery on Sophomore Album 'Cry' . 2023-01-20 . . en-US.
  4. Web site: ARIA Chart Watch #549. auspOp. November 2, 2019. November 2, 2019. November 2, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191102063828/https://www.auspop.com.au/2019/11/aria-chart-watch-549/. dead.
  5. Web site: Mūzikas Patēriņa Tops/ 44. nedēļa. lv. LAIPA. November 27, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191104102112/https://www.parmuziku.lv/muzikas-zinas/latvija/muzikas-paterina-tops-44-nedela-8205. November 4, 2019.
  6. Web site: 2019 44-os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100). lt. AGATA. November 4, 2019. November 29, 2019.
  7. Web site: 2022 metų klausomiausi (Top 100). AGATA. lt. February 28, 2023.