It has been nearly three years since Alex G released his last project, "House of Sugar." Although well put-together and thought out, his album fell through the cracks and not much was said about it. This was unfortunate, simply because the artist put so much effort into "House of Sugar."
For most of his career, this has been the case. Many projects the solo singer-songwriter has put out have gotten underwhelming reviews and listenership. There was more conversation centered around songs like “Sarah” and “Treehouse,” but these were just songs. Holistic projects and albums never got nearly the amount of popularity and listenership.
For this reason, it was refreshing to see more conversations surrounding his most recent release. Even in the early stages of the release, the singles he put out were well received and publicized. “Runner” was the most publicized release of the album, with advertisements for the song running rampant on social media platforms such as TikTok.
This even landed him a gig playing on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. This was unheard of for the largely “under the radar” indie-pop artist, never having made it on to a talk show or having had a performance nationally aired. This was a step in the right direction for the artist, as he was able to get his name out there to have a more well-received album by the public and hopefully gain listenership.
Now, on to the album itself: "God Save The Animals" The project can be best described as a new wave-sounding rock album with influence from both the indie-pop genre and rock and roll. This album, however, is all over the place and not in the best way. The majority sounds like your average rock album, but when you listen to certain songs, the genre is lost slightly.
This is more to say that the genre that is being played is almost unrecognizable and nearly creates a new genre for itself. The influences of grunge, soul, rock and pop are all very present throughout the songs on the album and are almost interlaced with similar influences throughout each individual song.
This play on genre-bending sounds like an attempt to make songs more individualistic and unique. However, this play almost makes the songs sound the same. Every song has a sort of grunge/soul twist, with hard guitar paired with unique-sounding synth. This can be a bad thing if the attempt was to make songs unique, but if not, makes the overall album cohesive with running sonic patterns throughout.
Tracks like “Runner” and “After All” are some of the more cohesive tracks on the album. While they share certain components, they both sound like individual songs. However, songs like “Blessing,” “Cross the Sea” and “Immunity” are not as consistent throughout the songs themselves. These tracks are a little all over the place, which is perhaps what Alex was going for in the creation of these songs.
Typically, the mastery of a project is up to the eye of the beholder, so no one should argue against that fact. Listeners make up all of the perception of a project, whether good or bad. However, with this album, it feels like a piece of art that possibly can’t be understood, which happens to be the running theme within Alex G’s discography. All in all, it isn’t to say audiences shouldn’t form their own perception of the album as a whole.
This album is unique lyrically, sonically, artistically and in so many other ways. It is, as a whole, a great album to enjoy as a singular project. The artistry within it sets it apart from anything being released in its genre and for this fact it can be enjoyed for exactly what it is: a piece of art. "God Save The Animals" is something that anyone can enjoy and something everyone can strive to understand.
