I listened to Headlights by Alex G, which released tonight. I was a big fan of the three singles released ahead of the album so I had pretty high expectations for it. I would say they were half met. I was really hoping for a fully complete album from him, but this album suffers from the same issue almost all his previous albums have, which is just not having great consistency.
You’ll get hit with some absolute bangers (June Guitar, Is It Still You In There, Spinning) mixed in with middling songs that sound like something from a generic “low-fi indie songs” playlist on YT (Real Thing, Louisiana, Headlights). Which just doesn’t give you a ton of reason to go back and listen to the albums in full when you know only half the album is going to be worth listening to attentively.
There’s also Far and Wide on this album which doesn’t really fit into either category, it sounds like Alex trying to do his best Death Cab for Cutie/Ben Gibbard impression and I’m not sure it works that well. The instrumental on the song is nice, tho it feels a bit out place when compared to the lyrics and singing (minus the chorus).
This is probably his most “simple” album production wise but it’s still a far cry from something like Elliott Smith’s self titled where the primary instrument is only the acoustic guitar. Almost every song has some sort of electronic instrument in it and they all sound more “grand” and complex than almost any Elliott song. Which isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, just a difference. I do like the simpler sound and think it suits him.
Overall a good album but nothing revolutionary or anything.