29 February 2024 - 0 Comments

Today, Cigarettes After Sex announce their new LP, titled X's (due 12 July), alongside their upcoming world tour, which features shows at some of the globe's most iconic venues, like Madison Square Garden and London's O2, with more Asia, South America and Middle East shows to be announced at a later date.

Filled with raw, imagistic, sometimes smutty vignettes set to entrancing, slowburn pop songs, bandleader Greg Gonzalez captures every emotion a romantic arc inspires. But where previous albums have drawn from an amalgam of relationships, for the most part, X’s centralizes on just one relationship that spanned four years.

“The record feels brutal,” admits Gonzalez. “I could sit and talk about this loss to someone, but that wouldn’t scratch the surface. I have to really write about it, sing about it, have the music, and then I can start to analyze and learn from it. Or just relive it—in a good way. I don’t have that Eternal Sunshine-thing of wanting to forget.”

While continuing to observe classic pop song structures, Gonzalez has moved away from the prior sonic touchstones of the 50's and 60's, finding himself now drawn to a 70's/80's slow dance. While (in typical Cigarettes style) these changes may be subtle, the overall resulting energy is akin to disco ball-refracted tears on the dance floor.

Today also marks the release of the record's first single, Tejano Blue, a nod to the music of bandleader Greg Gonzalez’s Texas childhood, resulting in the most instantly memorable version (and liveliest tempo) yet of the band’s signature sensual, timeless, love songs.

Gonzalez explains: “I grew up in El Paso & Tejano music is huge there. You could go to a lot of the bars in the city & 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 & 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.”

Tejano Blue is available today via All DSPs, and Cigarettes After Sex's new LP, X's, is out July 12th via Partisan Records.

My Live Nation members can be among the first to secure tickets to the New Zealand show during the exclusive presale starting 10am, Wednesday 6 March. Tickets go on sale at 10am, Friday 8 March. For complete tour and ticketing info, visit: livenation.co.nz

CRS and Live Nation in association with 95bFM present Cigarettes After Sex. Touring New Zealand in March 2025.

CIGARETTES AFTER SEX X’S WORLD TOUR DATES

SPARK ARENA, AUCKLAND – WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH 2025

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