Rating: 6.5/10

Alternative singer (Sandy) Alex G is back with ‘House of Sugar’ – his third studio album of indie-folk tunes. On this project it feels like Alex G has really mastered his craft, producing some really high quality, beautiful sounding tracks. Sadly the album loses itself at moments on the album that feel a tad too experimental and unpolished, even for an artist as unique as Alex G.

On my first listen of this project I didn’t really focus on the lyrics, as the instrumentals and the atmosphere they create are often the standout parts of Alex G’s music. ‘House of Sugar‘ is no exception, as the production is on another level, but that said there are some really heartfelt lyrics too. On the lead single ‘Hope‘ I was unaware on first listen of the deep emotional topic of the song, as Alex G discusses his grief and guilt over his friend’s drug overdose. Whilst this topic may sound intense, the song itself is truly beautiful, with a fantastic violin backing over the simple guitar and drum pattern. Knowing the deeper levels to the track’s context only further its effectiveness, as the song is one of many heartfelt moments on the album.

The album’s opener, ‘Walk Away‘, is another touching track, as it sets up the feeling of wanting to quit an addiction, but just not quite being strong enough. There is a lot going on in the track, noticeably the weird voice used on the introduction, but that’s made up for by the power repeated refrain of “Someday I’m gonna walk away from you / Not today, not today“ which feels like such a real struggle, through the emotion of Alex G’s vocals and the blend of instruments and sounds in the backing.

I often critique albums for being too long and cluttered, and sadly this 14 track project falls victim to this as well. The album is only 38 minutes long, which is relatively short, but the first six tracks or so feel so polished compared with the rest of the album. If this album had been released as a long EP, it would have been incredible. Moments like the electronic and hypnotic sounding, ‘Gretel‘ are something special, whilst the folk/country sounding track, ‘Southern Sky‘ featuring guest vocals from Emily Yacina is a another top track, made even better by the killer violin part.

Track 8 on the album, ‘Bad Man‘ is where things falter for me, as it gets a bit more experimental. Throughout the track, Alex G adopts this country-style Southern twang in his singing and I don’t really understand it to be honest; I wouldn’t say it adds anything to what would have been quite a nice track apart from distracting from the instrumental and lyrics. The next track, ‘In My Arms‘, gets even more experimental on a primarily instrumental track with some Bon Iver style vocal manipulation. These tracks aren’t bad by any means, but after such a strong chain of songs in the first half of the album, it felt quite noticeable that there was a drop in quality and change in style.

Near the end of the album, there are a few more unusual moments, such as ‘Cow‘ which sounds like a really beautiful song, until Alex G sings “You big old cow / You draw me out / Lie on the ground / Kiss on the mouth” in what is either an ode to an actual cow, or one of the strangest ‘pet names’ I’ve heard someone use. That said, the track is still weirdly endearing, perhaps in part due to the lyrics that catch you slightly off-guard.

Alex G is a great artist to listen to: his music is relaxing, well produced and always has many layers to it. Whilst this album as a whole isn’t the greatest project ever, there are some really special moments and standout beautiful songs which are worth revisiting and it’s clear that with each project, (Sandy) Alex G is really growing and developing as an artist.