House of Sugar
2019 studio album by Alex G
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
House of Sugar is the eighth studio album by American musician Alex G, released on September 13, 2019, through Domino Recording Company.[1][2]
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Alex's home (Philadelphia)
Duck Room at Blueberry Hill (St. Louis)
PUDH II
The Acchione's (Philadelphia)
| House of Sugar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 13, 2019 | |||
| Studio | New York City Alex's home (Philadelphia) Duck Room at Blueberry Hill (St. Louis) PUDH II The Acchione's (Philadelphia) | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, experimental pop | |||
| Length | 37:45 | |||
| Label | Domino | |||
| Producer | Alexander Giannascoli | |||
| Alex G chronology | ||||
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| Singles from House of Sugar | ||||
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The album's title is a reference to both the SugarHouse Casino (now called Rivers Casino) in Philadelphia and the gingerbread house from "Hansel and Gretel".[3]
Recording
House of Sugar was recorded in New York City and Alex's home in Philadelphia, except for "SugarHouse (Live)" which was recorded at Duck Room at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis, Missouri on November 6, 2018. Drums for "Walk Away", "Hope", "Taking" and "Crime" were recorded at PUDH II. Drums for "Near" were recorded at The Acchione's in Philadelphia.[4]
Release
Alex G debuted on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart following the release of House of Sugar. The album appeared on a number of Billboard charts, including reaching the number 5 spot on the Heatseekers Albums chart as well as number 3 on Vinyl Albums, number 20 on Rock Album Sales and number 43 on Top Album Sales with 5,000 equivalent album units earned.[5]
Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, House of Sugar received an average score of 86, based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[7]
Hannah Flint of Q praised the album's musical variation, commenting, "At first, House of Sugar can make you feel like you accidentally left the shuffle button on but, a few listens in, it's those twists and turns that make it such a satisfying listen."[14]
Accolades
| Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exclaim! | Top 20 Pop and Rock Albums of 2019 | 4 | [17] |
| Noisey | Top 100 Albums of 2019 | 3 | [18] |
| Noisey | Top 100 Albums of the 2010s | 97 | [19] |
| No Ripcord | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 6 | [20] |
| Obscure Sound | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 5 | [21] |
| Pitchfork | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 17 | [22] |
| Pitchfork | Best Rock Albums of 2019 | - | [23] |
| Stereogum | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 6 | [24] |
| Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2019 | 64 | [25] |
Track listing
All tracks are written by Alexander Giannascoli.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Walk Away" | 4:16 |
| 2. | "Hope" | 2:36 |
| 3. | "Southern Sky" | 3:12 |
| 4. | "Gretel" | 3:10 |
| 5. | "Taking" | 2:14 |
| 6. | "Near" | 2:09 |
| 7. | "Project 2" | 2:22 |
| 8. | "Bad Man" | 1:51 |
| 9. | "Sugar" | 2:48 |
| 10. | "In My Arms" | 2:43 |
| 11. | "Cow" | 2:44 |
| 12. | "Crime" | 3:59 |
| 13. | "SugarHouse (Live)" | 3:41 |
| Total length: | 37:45 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Gretel (Solo)" | 2:12 |
| 15. | "SugarHouse (Solo)" | 2:07 |
| 16. | "Fell (Live at the Headroom)" | 5:37 |
| Total length: | 47:58 | |
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of House of Sugar.[4]
- Alexander Giannascoli – songwriting, production, engineering
- Samuel Acchione – guitar (track 13), electric guitar (track 1), vocals (track 13)
- Colin Acchione – bass (track 3)
- John Heywood – bass (tracks 5, 13)
- Tom Kelly – drums (tracks 2, 13)
- David Allen Scoli – saxophone (track 13)
- Molly Germer – violin (tracks 3, 4, 9), vocals (track 12)
- Emily Yacina – vocals (track 3)
- Rachel Giannascoli – vocals (track 6), album art
- Jacob Portrait – mixing, engineering [drums] (tracks 3, 4, 10)
- Harrison Fore – engineering
- Heba Kadry – mastering
- Chris Bellman – lacquer cut
- David Allen Scoli – insert drawing
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[26] | 40 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[27] | 25 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[28] | 16 |