alexalone announces surprise album 'ALEXALONE TECHNICAL RESEARCH' out digitally this Friday, 9/29

September 26, 2023

In almost every respect, the alexalone that made their poignant Polyvinyl debut, ALEXALONEWORLD (2021), is an altogether different band than the one that made their staggering follow-up, the new ALEXALONE TECHNICAL RESEARCH. Listen to the record in full this Friday, September 29, and pre-order your copy of our limited edition Silver w/ Black Splatter vinyl set to ship October 27.

Accompanying today's announcement, the band share their breathtaking video for “ALL I NEED” directed by their very own Drewsky Hulett, alongside Ivy Chiu. Created as a response to gender dysphoria in the dual battlegrounds of Texas and oneself, this is an anthem for sublimating existential anxiety into empowerment, all your pals gathered around to join in the charge. At first quiet and brooding, as though frontrunner Alex Peterson were giving into self-doubt, the song builds toward a breakdown, then plows ahead like a battle hymn, its sharp riff wielded like a weapon. Watch below -

On the inspiration behind the track, Alex shares:

“For the last three years, I was living with my family in Georgetown. It was my first time living in the suburbs, not to mention the pandemic so the only places you could go were outside. I had been wanting to do HRT for a while and this kind of isolated environment actually ended up being ideal since I had my family who knew me really well to get through the second puberty of sorts. The song is kind of processing all of those things and asking questions about how things could be. Pretty open-ended but that’s the future, I guess. For the second half, we all figured out a progression that felt in line with the emotions of the ‘song part’ but was moving even slower. Sometimes finding what you need is a real slog.”

Additionally, Drewsky and Ivy explain:

“Something we discussed early on in the ideation of this music video was movement: yes, movement in the literal sense of dance and cinematic motion, but also movement through life from birth to rebirth and so on. The constant revisions of purpose and direction in our own lives have always felt simultaneously like a repetitious nightmare and a superpower - to be malleable enough to flow with everything life brings and resilient enough to maintain a sense of self.

We wanted to reflect some of alexalone’s processes for writing and performing their music throughout our film-making process; they rely on friendship, play, and experimentation to craft epic and imaginative songs. In this spirit, we decided to approach everything with a healthy dose of improvisation. This meant that collaboration and experimentation from every performer and crew member were leading the creative vision, and the result is this beautifully rich expression of discovery, curiosity, and the inherent eeriness of finding one’s way through life.

We were lucky to be joined by some of our favorite drag and movement performers from Austin’s vibrant queer community, and our incredibly talented film community, who all generously gave so much to this project <3”

Catch alexalone supporting their labelmate, Palehound, across the US in November before they hit the road for their newly announced headline dates along the east coast - all dates below.