Cigarettes After Sex are a vibe. Theirs is a gauzy, vaguely foreboding brand of dream-pop that evokes clandestine liasons and David Lynch films, and there’s no one else in the game with a voice as haunting and mysterious as the one belonging to frontman Greg Gonzalez. The trio returned yesterday after a two-years absence with a new single called “Pistol,” and it shot straight into the Top 10 of the Genius Top Songs chart.
Written and produced by Gonzalez, “Pistol” is about finding yourself at loose ends following a breakup. Over a cool, sleepy guitar figure, Gonzalez opens the song by describing how he’s been killing time since getting dumped. It doesn’t sound especially healthy.
Give me the pistol
Aim it high
I’m out in the desert
Shooting at the sky
On the second verse, Gonzalez provides a snippet of backstory. His ex used to have pictures of them all over their bedroom walls. Then something happened.
But you took ’em all down now
And you put ’em into a drawer
It seems reasonable to assume this breakup was not mutual. On the chorus, Gonzalez stakes his future happiness and well-being on the other person coming back to him.
You’ve been on my mind
And I’ll waste my time
’Til you lift me off the floor
And love me again
Not knowing the specifics of the relationship, it’s hard to say whether a reconciliation is really in the cards. But Gonzalez’s obsessiveness makes him sound pretty delusional in the third verse.
I know if I saw you
And we kissed just once
You could be happy
Maybe you’d come back
“Pistol” marks the group’s first release since the 2020 single “You’re All I Want.” There’s no word yet on the possibility of a third album, which would follow 2019’s Cry.
You can read all the lyrics to “Pistol” on Genius now.
