By Hannah Nuss
(Sandy) Alex G
forest – Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
(Sandy) Alex G – longtime figure of cult status now shining in the limelight – has teased four singles this Summer in light of his latest album, House of Sugar, dropping on September 13th. And I haven’t been able to stop listening.
Well-known for crafting characters within his music, Alex’s fiction comes to fruition in House of Sugar. The album explores the bleakness of the self through a lens of lore. Many songs offer a contorted retelling nursery rhymes, with themes of gluttony gorging beyond just sweets. In the Summer issue of Fader, Alex dominates the cover as he indulges on a chocolate bar, staring directly at you in near defiance.
Alex G has been in vague circulation for my listening in the past few years; a sounding board for a melancholic night drive or otherwise. But with these latest singles, he has me hooked, much like the characters in his art are hooked to their vices. “Southern Sky” distorts the nursery archetype of counting sheep with devils grazing the subconscious.
My personal favorite track, Gretel, is a wicked reimaging of Hansel and Gretel. In his interview with Fader [link], Alex explains that rather than the children escaping together, Gretel leaves Hansel for dead in the witch’s house of sugar (a nod to the title). In the wake of her betrayal, she feels no remorse, but rather revels in desire for sweets.
Gretel’s sardonic, child-like voice in Gretel’s chorus mocks
I don't wanna go back
Nobody's gonna push me off track
I see what they do
Good people got something to lose
I don't wanna be this
Good people gotta fight to exist
I can’t help but adore this concept – of merging childhood tales with adulthood horrors. Of pitting nursery rhymes against themes of ugly reality. The musical equivalent for ambiguous white powder: sugar or cocaine? And what’s the fundamental difference?
Sugar – Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
HAVOC MUSIC 