House of Sugar

House of Sugar is the eighth studio album by American musician (Sandy) Alex G, released on September 13, 2019, through Domino Recording Company.[1][2]

House of Sugar
Studio album by
(Sandy) Alex G
ReleasedSeptember 13, 2019 (2019-09-13)
StudioNew York City
Alex's home (Philadelphia)
Duck Room at Blueberry Hill (St. Louis)
PUDH II
The Acchione's (Philadelphia)
GenreIndie rock
Length37:45
LabelDomino
ProducerAlexander Giannascoli
(Sandy) Alex G chronology
Rocket
(2017)		 House of Sugar
(2019)
Singles from House of Sugar
  1. "Gretel"
    Released: June 4, 2019
  2. "Hope"
    Released: July 15, 2019
  3. "Southern Sky"
    Released: August 13, 2019
  4. "Near"
    Released: August 14, 2019

The album's title is a reference to both the SugarHouse 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 "Walkaway", "Hope", "Talking" and "Crime" were recorded at PUDH II. Drums for "Near" were recorded at The Acchione's in Philadelphia.[4]

Release

(Sandy) Alex G debuted on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart following 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
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.1/10[6]
Metacritic86/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Clash8/10[9]
Consequence of SoundB+[10]
Exclaim!9/10[11]
MusicOMH[12]
NME[13]
Pitchfork8.6/10[3]
Q[14]
The Skinny[15]
Tiny Mix Tapes4.5/5[16]

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.TitleLength
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
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
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
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References
  1. Minsker, Evan (June 4, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G Announces New Album House of Sugar, Shares New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  2. Bernstein, Jonathan (June 4, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G Returns With 'House of Sugar', Releases New Song 'Gretel'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  3. Gaca, Anna (September 16, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G: House of Sugar". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  4. House of Sugar (liner notes). (Sandy) Alex G. Domino Recording Company. 2019. WIGLP451.CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. Kress, Bryan (September 27, 2019). "Emerging Artists Spotlight: (Sandy) Alex G". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  6. "House of Sugar by (Sandy) Alex G reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  7. "House of Sugar by (Sandy) Alex G Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  8. Donelson, Marcy. "House of Sugar – (Sandy) Alex G". AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  9. Weir, David (September 24, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G – House Of Sugar". Clash. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  10. Sackllah, David (September 21, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G Draws in Patient Listeners on the Mysterious House of Sugar". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  11. Sylvester, Daniel (September 11, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G: House of Sugar". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  12. Shepherd, Sam (September 13, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G – House Of Sugar". MusicOMH. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  13. Krol, Charlotte (September 5, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G – 'House Of Sugar' review". NME. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  14. Flint, Hannah (October 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G: House of Sugar". Q. No. 403. London. p. 113.
  15. Inglis, Tony (September 12, 2019). "(Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar". The Skinny. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  16. Bieser, Benjamin Eckman. "(Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  17. "Exclaim!'s 20 Best Pop and Rock Albums of 2019". Exclaim!. December 4, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  18. Jenkins, Alex (December 13, 2019). "The 100 Best Albums of 2019". Vice. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  19. "The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s". Vice. November 7, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  20. "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". No Ripcord. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  21. Mineo, Mark (December 17, 2019). "Best Albums of 2019". Obscure Sound. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  22. "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Pitchfork. December 10, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  23. "The Best Rock Albums of 2019". Pitchfork. December 11, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  24. "50 Best Albums of 2019". Stereogum. September 3, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  25. Redfern, Mark (December 31, 2019). "Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2019". Under the Radar. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  26. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  27. "(Sandy) Alex G Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  28. "(Sandy) Alex G Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
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