ZOOMERCORE
Alex G - God Save the Animals
On his 9th album God Save the Animals, Alex tackles religion, morality and forgiveness, all while upping his musical chops with a fresh, uniquely modern instrumental backing. As a modern legend in the indie music scene, Alex is bringing his signature songwriting to this project, though he has shed the lo-fi aesthetic for a polished, studio approach. He combines old-school folk and indie rock tunes with hyperpop beats and auto-tuned vocals, and does so with reckless abandon, sometimes even on the same song. Although Alex has stated repeatedly in interviews that he is not religious, the album feels uniquely Christian, leaving fans wondering if he has found God, found sobriety, or some other epiphany in his personal life. Whatever it is, on God Save the Animals, Alex feels like a whole new man.
If there is one thing that is apparent on God Save the Animals, it’s that Alex G is a Zoomer at heart. Gen Z’s obsession with Y2K has seen the comeback of early-aughts bands like Deftones and Korn, and as a friend of mine pointed out, “Blessings” actually sounds a lot like early 2000s staple The Fray. The New York Times recent article “New York’s Hottest New Club is the Catholic Church” lays out the case that Christianity is a rising fad for the youth. Alex’s newfound obsession with Christ is no doubt a reflection of this changing attitude. Even the song “No Blessings” has an interlude that sounds a lot like zoomer-favorite Ecco2K. It is simultaneously his most drained and christian album to date.
Previously I thought that some of Alex's albums tended to feel directionless. His grab-bag approach to tracking can make the albums feel more like a playlist or youtube compilation than a full LP. If you simply shuffled songs from Alex’s discography, apart from the particularly folky Rocket cuts, or the Oneohtrix Point Never-style electronic beats of House of Sugar, I would have a very hard time telling you which album they belonged to. I think that this approach has helped Alex gain traction with folks in the TikTok and YouTube algorithm cycle, as if you have heard one Alex G song you have basically heard them all. And if you like that sound, well, congrats because there are hundreds of unreleased cuts, secret bandcamp songs and side projects for you to dive into. That being said, God Save the Animals feels different. It is not the shuffle-and-forget-about-it Alex G album of the past, and it’s not due to some drastic difference in songwriting approach. While this album has an eclectic and somewhat idiosyncratic sound palette, the songs follow similar structure to his previous tunes.
The major difference on God Save the Animals is Alex’s lyrics, which are so finely tuned and poignant that they can make you cry. The album opens up with the powerful, devout line “people come and people go away, but God with me he stayed.” On “Runner”, easily one of the best songs he has ever written, he raps about opening up to people, his triggers, the morality of his actions, getting hit with rolled up magazines. “Ain’t It Easy” tells the story of a struggling relationship, one where Alex feels as if he should have known his partner had lost control. This song is particularly emotionally poignant, with lush backing of strings and an understated drum beat that puts Alex’s singing on full display.
Alex has always been concerned with morality - on House of Sugar’s “Bad Man”, he sings “I’m a bad man, how about that?” On “Runner,” he confesses that he has done a “couple bad things.” But it seems as if his newfound faith, sobriety or some other enlightenment has caused Alex to be more at peace with himself. He now knows that despite his wrongdoings, Jesus is his lawyer. On “Forgive,” he pleads: “forgive yesterday, I choose today.” For lifelong fans of Alex, it is interesting to see his boyish early lyrics about guilt mature into the sober, thoughtful request for forgiveness. If House of Sugar was Alex’s “Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll” album, God Save the Animals is his a-few-months-out-of-rehab, working-the-12-steps album. This maturity is reflected in his sound palette as well, eschewing the lo-fi bedroom sound recording technique for an actual studio. It was a big deal when Alex changed microphones from a $90 direct-to-USB microphone to a legit one in 2017, and now Alex is even taking his instruments out of his bedroom into a physical studio. He’s growing up right before our eyes, and what he has to show for it is his best album to date, and easily one of the best albums of the year.
If there is one thing that is apparent on God Save the Animals, it’s that Alex G is a Zoomer at heart. Gen Z’s obsession with Y2K has seen the comeback of early-aughts bands like Deftones and Korn, and as a friend of mine pointed out, “Blessings” actually sounds a lot like early 2000s staple The Fray. The New York Times recent article “New York’s Hottest New Club is the Catholic Church” lays out the case that Christianity is a rising fad for the youth. Alex’s newfound obsession with Christ is no doubt a reflection of this changing attitude. Even the song “No Blessings” has an interlude that sounds a lot like zoomer-favorite Ecco2K. It is simultaneously his most drained and christian album to date.
Previously I thought that some of Alex's albums tended to feel directionless. His grab-bag approach to tracking can make the albums feel more like a playlist or youtube compilation than a full LP. If you simply shuffled songs from Alex’s discography, apart from the particularly folky Rocket cuts, or the Oneohtrix Point Never-style electronic beats of House of Sugar, I would have a very hard time telling you which album they belonged to. I think that this approach has helped Alex gain traction with folks in the TikTok and YouTube algorithm cycle, as if you have heard one Alex G song you have basically heard them all. And if you like that sound, well, congrats because there are hundreds of unreleased cuts, secret bandcamp songs and side projects for you to dive into. That being said, God Save the Animals feels different. It is not the shuffle-and-forget-about-it Alex G album of the past, and it’s not due to some drastic difference in songwriting approach. While this album has an eclectic and somewhat idiosyncratic sound palette, the songs follow similar structure to his previous tunes.
The major difference on God Save the Animals is Alex’s lyrics, which are so finely tuned and poignant that they can make you cry. The album opens up with the powerful, devout line “people come and people go away, but God with me he stayed.” On “Runner”, easily one of the best songs he has ever written, he raps about opening up to people, his triggers, the morality of his actions, getting hit with rolled up magazines. “Ain’t It Easy” tells the story of a struggling relationship, one where Alex feels as if he should have known his partner had lost control. This song is particularly emotionally poignant, with lush backing of strings and an understated drum beat that puts Alex’s singing on full display.
Alex has always been concerned with morality - on House of Sugar’s “Bad Man”, he sings “I’m a bad man, how about that?” On “Runner,” he confesses that he has done a “couple bad things.” But it seems as if his newfound faith, sobriety or some other enlightenment has caused Alex to be more at peace with himself. He now knows that despite his wrongdoings, Jesus is his lawyer. On “Forgive,” he pleads: “forgive yesterday, I choose today.” For lifelong fans of Alex, it is interesting to see his boyish early lyrics about guilt mature into the sober, thoughtful request for forgiveness. If House of Sugar was Alex’s “Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll” album, God Save the Animals is his a-few-months-out-of-rehab, working-the-12-steps album. This maturity is reflected in his sound palette as well, eschewing the lo-fi bedroom sound recording technique for an actual studio. It was a big deal when Alex changed microphones from a $90 direct-to-USB microphone to a legit one in 2017, and now Alex is even taking his instruments out of his bedroom into a physical studio. He’s growing up right before our eyes, and what he has to show for it is his best album to date, and easily one of the best albums of the year.