Finally, a little something to take the edge off: Cigarettes After Sex have announced their third studio album. They're sharing the news alongside lead single "Tejano Blue" and plans for a worldwide arena tour, including stops in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
The follow-up to their 2019 sophomore LP Cry, X's is due July 12 through Partisan Records. Expect the usual analgesic-but-make-it-sexy vibes, as the press notes literally mention "smutty vignettes," the band uses to memorialize a single four-year relationship bandleader Greg Gonzalez had.
“The record feels brutal,” Gonzalez admitted. “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.”
Of the lead single, which features the band's liveliest tempo yet, he added:
I grew up in El Paso and Tejano music is huge there. You could go to a lot of the bars in the city and hear artists like Selena, Los Ángeles Azules and La Mafia playing over the speakers. It was in the atmosphere around me back then, but I always rejected it and 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.
Give "Tejano Blue" a listen below, where you'll also find the album tracklist and Cigarettes After Sex's North American tour itinerary — featuring Canadian concerts at Montreal's Bell Centre (August 31), Toronto's Scotiabank Arena (September 1) and Vancouver's Rogers Arena (September 27). Tickets go on sale next Friday (March 8) at 10 a.m. local, following various presales beginning March 5.
X's:
1. X's
2. Tejano Blue
3. Silver Sable
4. Hideaway
5. Holding you, Holding me
6. Dark Vacay
7. Baby Blue Movie
8. Hot
9. Dreams from Bunker Hill
10. Ambien Slide
Cigarettes After Sex 2024 Tour Dates:
08/31 Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
09/01 Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
09/03 Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
09/04 Boston, MA - TD Garden
09/06 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
09/10 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion
09/11 Raleigh, NC - PNC Arena
09/13 Orlando, FL - Kia Center
09/14 Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena
09/17 San Antonio, TX - Frost Bank Center
09/18 Houston, TX - Toyota Center
09/20 Austin, TX - Moody Center
09/21 Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena
09/23 Chicago, IL - United Center
09/24 Saint Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
09/27 Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
09/28 Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena
09/30 Portland, OR - Moda Center
10/02 Greenwood Village, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
10/03 Salt Lake City, UT - Delta Center
10/05 Oakland, CA - Oakland Arena
10/07 San Diego, CA - Viejas Arena
10/08 Phoenix, AZ - Desert Diamond Arena
10/11 Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum
10/15 Mexico City - Palacio de los Deportes