Spectreview: (Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar

-WITCH HAZE-

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“That’s how she found me this morning
Bundled my head in her arms
Lifted my spoonful of sugar
Taking
And taking”

After you’ve listened to enough music to make relatively objective qualitative judgements about it, you might start to sense an uncanny through-line that pops up between historically acclaimed works. Imagine that a wellspring of energy exists somewhere -maybe in the ground, maybe in the sky, maybe on some remote island in the Pacific- that certain artists across history happened to stumble upon, where they then draw from and infuse that energy into their works. Call it “ the grain of the voice,” call it “je ne sais quoi” call it “psychedelics” or “hard drugs”; it’s something that feels strangely palpable, but realistically it’s probably just an instance where an artist steps back from the fray of creation, like a painter, and fills in the places where things are missing.

Listening to House of Sugar, it’s tempting to believe that Alex Giannascoli has tapped into this peculiar wellspring. It’s an album that presents his unique strengths better than anything he’s done before, while also providing a link to the iconic strengths of other renowned acts. The lightness and brevity of Beatlesque pop, the fragile weathered beauty of Springsteen, the sun-drenched weight of memory in Red House Painters’ Old Ramon, plus the economical influence of countless underground Philly bands: there’s much to pick apart here, and it’s all seamlessly woven into the album’s dense walls of sound. Those walls, from the thick swirl of piano and strings on opener “Walk Away” to the ominous vocal processing on “Gretel” and “Sugar”, represent the most obvious departure from Alex G’s humbler past offerings. In addition to its status as a self-produced album, there’s an experimental touch present across House of Sugar that ties its vaguely psychedelic tracks with more plaintive moments, all providing a cumulative power that helps make some of these tracks the best examples of Giannascoli’s songwriting yet. “Cow’s” soft-lit foray into Americana, “Hope’s” interpretation of the book of Elliott Smith, even “Southern Sky’s” Lennon-like saloon-stomp; these have all been done in slightly different fashions on previous records, but the album’s distinct production and thoughtful sense of pacing allow them a greater potency. Barring a slight dip in momentum after the midway point, the record captivates all the way to its eponymous finale, a poignant, saxophone-featuring live track about losing yourself in the pull of the casino that successfully summons those Springsteen comparisons.

It’s fitting to imagine the world as a collective of addicts and takers, and if there’s any point that Giannascoli wants to make in House of Sugar, it’s that our selfishness -that which is literally killing us- is inherent, and that we’re fated to fight it throughout our lives. Whether it’s drugs (the tragic Fentanyl overdose on “Hope”), social media (waking with phone in hand on “Taking”) or simple love (the monomaniacal “Near” and the enigmatic “Sugar”), Giannascoli writes empathetic stories of people that live in worlds designed around their desired consumption, with no posited solutions or exits. The method may change, and the words may be muddied, but on the whole he speaks with a tasteful candidness and, like many talented lyricists, plays with specificity in ways that allow the listener to draw their own conclusions. What a treat that, in the confines of this album, he’s fashioned a unique lens for us to view such relatable tragedies from a novel angle. Perhaps that’s what makes House of Sugar so special, or perhaps it’s his willingness to let us put the pieces together ourselves through repeat listens; there’s no clear answer, but what’s evident is that, as a result, (Sandy) Alex G has made his most convincing argument that his voice should be counted among the most exciting songwriters working today.

Highly recommended for classic rock fans that gradually want to pull themselves into 2019.