Album of the Month: Race by Alex G

              Before I say anything about Alex G and his music it is important to note that art is subjective. I highly encourage you to listen to the album before developing an opinion on it. His team and himself worked very hard on it and you should experience the art for yourself!

              About the artist: Born 1993, on February 3rd, Alex G is a musician and music producer. He has been releasing music on his own since he was 17 years old. He is mostly known for his contributions in the Indie-rock and Indie-Folk genres, and he also has recently been involved in making music for the movie “I Saw the TV Glow” by Jane Schoenbrun.

Track #1: Remember: This song is about someone trying to escape their caretaker who hurt them. The instrumental gives folk song vibes and makes you feel like someone is telling a scary story in their backyard. Alex’s voice itself sounds tired and strained, which ties together nicely with the message.

Track #2: The Same: The song starts with a kid who feels as though they have to stay the same way they have been in order to keep someone in their life. As the song goes on, the tone changes as a higher pitch and much more strained sound are presented. Simultaneously, the lyrics reveal that the child is not the same they used to be and they are unable to act the same. This is in spite of how much everyone wants them to stay the same. In the end, the lyrics talk about how no matter how you change there will always be people who don’t like you.

Track #3: TV: The 3rd shortest song of the album, stopping at 1:21 minutes. I think the song is short on purpose, due to the message of the song. This song is about fleeting feelings that people have for one another, and tells the story of someone who was left by someone they care about. The person is trying to comfort themselves by saying that the feeling they have for the person that left can’t hurt them, because that person never even knew them in the first place. 

Track #4: Gnaw: Probably one of my favorite songs on the album and the reason I chose this album, especially the chorus. The song is about two people, one of them feeling good and the other one being in a horrible place emotionally. It’s implied that the first person made the other feel bad. In the middle of the song, the person who made the other feel bad realizes that the two have gone through similar things, and they start to comfort the other person.

Track #5: Trash: The melody of the song sounds like midnight on Halloween: like something sinister is about to happen. The song and lyrics are about the things that go wrong in people’s lives. This includes separating from your friends, heartache, loneliness. In the end, he says that life is all a joke and to just live while you can. This is because bad things happen all the time, and if you don’t make good things happen they will never happen.

Track #6: House: I feel like the song’s main purpose is to tell a story, rather than to be catchy or the best to listen to. The song is about a girl leaving a relationship, or at least trying to leave. She always ends up coming back, even though she gets hurt. No matter where she goes, she’s always thinking about him. At the end of the song, Alex is almost making fun of her by saying he remembers when she complained about being alone, but now she’s never alone because of her relationship.

Track #7: Crab: Another one of my favorite songs from the album, it’s probably the most catchy. The melody and lyrics make you want to nod your head along with the song. It’s about someone trying to be a part of something so that they are not so lonely: even if what they are with hurts them.

Track #8: Go Away: The song sounds like the person singing is hiding and they can’t be heard, without something bad happening. The song itself changes multiple times, like it’s being distorted. It’s honestly almost creepy, like something you would hear in a horror movie. 

Track #9: Let It Go: By the end of the song you will feel sad and forlorn. It’s about a father grieving his son. The whole song the father is asking, “Are you really there?” (Giannascoli 0:15). The father is in denial about his son being gone. At the end of the song, the lyrics are telling the father that it’s okay and that the son is alright where he is.

Track #10: Things To Do: This is probably the most popular song on the album. It’s about someone who is stuck in their past. When they were young, they were treated badly and it’s still affecting them when they grow up. Now that they are all grown up, they are angry and unforgiving because they can’t escape their past. 

Track #11: Time and Space: The song feels like a continuation of “Things To Do”. While “Things To Do” is more high-pitched, like a child singing, “Time and Space” is lower in tone the child finally being grown up. The song is just a repeat of the last verse of “Things To Do”. The title fits well with the notion of going from child to adult. One second, you’re listening to a kid complain, the next you jump in time and they are still complaining about the same things as an adult. Although the lyrics are the same, the melody is different. The melody sounds like something old, like it is a marching song for an ancient army. It makes you feel like you’re reading the final chapter of a sad book.

Track #12: Cross Country: There are no lyrics to the song and there’s only humming in the back, which might make it seem pointless to the album. However, I do find the instrumentals to be well-composed. It fits as a good intermission between all the other songs and the next track: which is the last of the album. 

Track #13: Race: It starts with someone finding out that a person they were close to did something bad to them. Now, they are cutting them off, condemning them, saying that they are not worth all the hurt they are causing. But then in the end the beginning line starts over, and then the person starts to forget what happened between them and forgives them. The song is about a race against time and memory. Given that Race is also the name of the album, you can infer that this is the overall message for it as a whole.