Alex G - God Save The Animals

Following the success in the indie/alternative sphere of Beach Music (2015) and Rocket (2017), Alex Giannascoli's 2019 album, House of Sugar, was the dedicated home-recordist's first to be at least partly tracked in a professional studio. Returning to that record's densely layered, otherworldly, highly manipulated sonic approach, ninth album God Save the Animals takes things yet a step further. Again working with backing players -- here, Samuel Acchione (guitar/banjo), John Heywood (bass), Tom Kelly (drums), Molly Germer (strings, voice), and Jessica Lea Mayfield (voice on "After All") -- he also collaborated with a half-dozen engineers at five different studios across the Northeast, giving them each the nebulous instruction to offer their "best" recording quality. The result is Alex G's most disjointed, eerie, and dynamic outing yet -- descriptions that could also be applied collectively to the core songs. Ranging from spare and rustic ("Miracles") to druggy and impenetrable ("No Bitt