Headlights

by Alex G

Overview

In 2022, onetime home recordist Alex Giannascoli made his Billboard 200 debut with his ninth album, God Save the Animals, a record that not only saw him hitting the studio but working with a half-dozen engineers at multiple studios, each with the directive to capture their "best" recording quality. The result was his most dynamic and disjointed LP yet, and an extension of his career-long experimental bent. One of those engineers, Jacob Portrait (Unknown Mortal Orchestra), who also produced Alex G's otherworldly House of Sugar, returned to the studio with the songwriter/guitarist for his RCA-issued major-label debut, Headlights. It may come as a surprise, then, that rather than following an increasingly exploratory and high-contrast trajectory, Headlights is his most unassuming, back-to-basics (Neil Young, Elliott Smith) record in years. There are still manipulated vocals, other occasional effects, and some electric guitar on the album, but it was performed almost entirely by Giannascoli, with the exception of some backing vocals and strings. In line with the arrangements, and despite some typically impenetrable lyrics, Headlights is a personal work featuring songs inspired by first-time fatherhood, childhood remembrances, and taking stock of things in general. It opens with the meditative "June Guitar," which introduces a pitched-up, backing "kid voice" that he has used before and which still has a few things to say. In contrast to the prevailing ambling, ruminative folk-rock here are tracks like the jauntier "Afterlife," which delves into the theme of rebirth; the Smith-evoking rocker "Spinning"; the dreamy electro-acoustic title track; and the clattering, kid-vocalized "Bounce Boy," easily the trippiest and poppiest entry among the 12 tracks. There's also a song that's eerily reminiscent of Peanuts' "Christmas Time Is Here." "Is It Still You in There?"'s piano and brushed snare fall squarely into the first category of song but defies the record's dominant circular harmonic, melodic, and even lyrical structures. Alex G's longtime touring band (guitarist Sam Acchione, bassist John Heywood, and drummer Tom Kelly) do surface on Headlights' closing track, "Logan Hotel (Live)," a rambunctious highlight captured around the piano at a hotel in the songwriter's hometown of Philadelphia. ~ Marcy Donelson

Product Details

Release Date:	07/18/2025
Label:	Rca
UPC:	0198029171310

Tracks

1. June Guitar
2. Real Thing
3. Afterlife
4. Beam Me Up
5. Spinning
6. Louisiana
7. Bounce Boy
8. Oranges
9. Far and Wide
10. Headlights
11. Is It Still You In There?
12. Logan Hotel [Live]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alex G   Primary Artist
Carlos Santiago   Violin
Tom Kelly   Drums
Veronica Jurkiewicz   Viola
John Heywood   Bass
Samuel "Sack" Acchione   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Molly Germer   Violin,Strings,Vocals (Background)
Justin Yoder   Cello
Carolina Diazgranados   Cello,Vocals (Background)
Hannah Nicholas   Viola,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Heba Kadry   Mastering Engineer
Cody Cichowski   Engineer
Jacob Portrait   Engineer,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Alex G   Producer
Alex Giannascoli   Composer,Engineer,Lyricist
Eric Bogacz   Engineer
Shubham Mondal   Assistant Engineer
Harrison Fore   Engineer
Matt Ticcino   Engineer
Kieran Ferris   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Alex Cosenza   Assistant Engineer
Thomas Kelly   Engineer