Cigarettes after sex

We are going to stay in a sleepy/dreamy state for a while longer, meet: Cigarettes after sex.

I already introduced you a bit to dream pop in my blog entry about Beach House, so let’s skip right to the band.

CAS play together since 2008, initially it was a solo project, but currently there are three members involved : Greg Gonzalez (founder, leading vocals, guitar), Randall Miller (bass) and Jacob Tomsky (drums).

Essentially, the dream pop genre is pretty hypnotic and abstract in itself and CAS also play by those rules, but what I really like about them in particular is how minimalistic they are in their approach both to music and lyrics. One may say that their sound is too repetitive, plain, the songs are too similar, you cannot distinguish them altogether, but personnally I don’t mind.

On the contrary, I kind of like them more for that. It just makes their music one big epic journey, interconnected by the exploration of concepts such as love, lust, longing. Because that’s what they put their focus on, mostly. Depending on the idea, it could be a very erotic and sensual record with some crude lyrics, or a melancholic and nostalgic one with some sadness to it. Complimented by the wispy and satine-like voice of Greg, it creates a wonderful ambiance. That’s just another distinctive trait of theirs, I guess.

Interesting fact :

In one of the interviews, Greg Gonzalez asked about his cinematic approach to music and creative process of writing, confessed that The Double Life of Veronique by Kieslowski and L’Avventura by Antonioni are the movies which inspired him and the sound of CAS the most.

I definitely see what they are going for, and I admire them for their consistency and their sort of black-and-white aesthetics.

Here’s a cover of theirs of Neon Moon by Brooks and Dunn , released about 2 months ago, I really like their touch on it :