(Sandy) Alex G is in the final two-week push toward his seventh album, Rocket, and to mark the occasion, the prolific artist has put out two new, wildly disparate tracks.
The first, “Sportstar,” sounds like something that could’ve been on Frank Ocean’s visual album Endless without much tweaking. Even if (Sandy) Alex G hadn’t worked with Ocean on Blonde, the comparison would be apt because “Sportstar” subsists on a prominent but sort of submerged piano figure and (Sandy) Alex G singing off in the background with what sounds like autotune. Even without the benefit of lyrics, it’s a song that has a discernible ache to it. Like Ocean, yes, but also like the recent work (Sandy) Alex G’s been putting out.
The other tune, “Brick,” couldn’t be more dissimilar. It sounds like a Ty Segall pisstake. Here the guitars are turned up to 11, and basically scrap and spit fire the whole way through. For his part, (Sandy) Alex G hollers in a way that makes you think his voice (and eventually his body) could give out at any second. Whatever the first track was attempting to preserve, this songs attempts to destroy.
Rocket drops May 19 via Domino. You can find out more about the album here and listen to both “Sportstar” and “Brick” below. Also, check out a 2014 Daytrotter Session from (Sandy) Alex G.