“God” figures in the new album from Philadelphia, PA based Alex Giannascolis LP’s title, its first song, and multiple of its thirteen tracks thereafter, not as a concrete religious entity but as a sign for a generalized sense of faith (in something, anything) that fortifies Giannascoli, or the characters he voices, amid the songs’ often fraught situations. Beyond the ambient inspiration of pop, Giannascoli has been drawn in recent years to artists who balance the public and hermetic, the oblique and the intimate, and who present faith more as a shared social language than religious doctrine. As with his previous records, Giannascoli wrote and demoed these songs by himself, at home; but, for the sake of both new tones and “a routine that was outside of my apartment,” he asked some half-dozen engineers to help him produce the “best” recording quality, whatever that meant. The result is an album more dynamic than ever in its sonic palette. “America’s greatest living songwriter” – The Fader “one of the most exciting and innovative songwriters working today.” – GQ “An indie rock prodigy” – Rolling Stone “one of the decade’s defining indie rock artists” – Washington Post “at times earnest and intimate, at others freaky and experimental; most often and most impressively, all of the above at once.” – NPR Today Alex G – the Philadelphia singer, songwriter, and producer Alex Giannascoli – announces his highly anticipated ninth studio album God Save the Animals, due out September 23 on Domino. The announcement comes along with new single “Runner” and its accompanying video. The video was shot by Aldo Fisk and features an affectionate performance by Giannascoli and his bandmates Sam Acchione, Molly Germer, John Heywood, and Tom Kelly. God Save the Animals also includes the previously released track “Blessing,” which received praise from NPR (“delightfully weird, minimalist and dark, it doles out many curiosities over its three short minutes”) and the New York Times (“His predictable unpredictability strikes again… the whole thing is eerie, hypnotic and, somehow, strangely moving.”) “People come and people go away / Yeah, but God with me he stayed,” sings Alex Giannascoli, the 29-year-old, Philadelphia-based musician best known as Alex G on his new album, God Save the Animals. “God” figures in the LP’s title and multiple of its thirteen tracks, not as a concrete religious entity but as a sign for a generalized sense of faith (in something, anything) that fortifies Giannascoli, or the characters he voices, amid the songs’ often fraught situations. Giannascoli has been drawn in recent years to musicians like Gillian Welch and writers like Joy Williams, artists who balance the public and hermetic and who present faith more as a shared social language than religious doctrine. Filtering his experiences through fact and fiction, Giannascoli also opened up the songs through a more practical method: collaboration. God Save the Animals features several individual contributions from his bandmates (guitarist Samuel Acchione, drummer Tom Kelly, and bassist John Heywood) or frequent collaborator Molly Germer on strings and/or vocals. As with records since his adolescence, Giannascoli wrote and demoed the songs of God Save the Animals by himself, at home; but, for the sake of both new tones and “a routine that was outside of my apartment” during the pandemic, he began visiting multiple studios in greater Philadelphia. God Save the Animals consequently features the work of some half-dozen engineers whom Giannascoli asked to help him produce the “best” recording quality, whatever that meant. The result is an album more dynamic than ever in its sonic palette and its thoroughgoing complexity. Tracklist: 1. After All 2. Runner 3. Mission 4. S.D.O.S. 5. No Bitterness 6. Ain’t It Easy 7. Cross the Sea 8. Blessing 9. Early Morning Waiting 10. Immunity 11. Headroom Piano 12. Miracles 13. Forgive
