Alex Sauser-Monnig has unveiled her second album as Daughter of Swords, titled Alex, marking her first solo full-length in six years. The record blends Americana and folk roots with modern synthesizers and percussion, exploring themes of vulnerability and personal reflection. Sauser-Monnig provides intimate breakdowns of each track, revealing inspirations from dreams to societal critiques.
Last Friday, Alex Sauser-Monnig released Alex, her sophomore album under the Daughter of Swords moniker. This project evolves from her folk and Americana foundations, incorporating synthesizers, buoyant percussion, and vocals that shift from yelps to simmering hums. Paste contributor Andy Crump praised its variety: “From track to track, verse to verse, no two songs here sound alike in tone or texture. For an artist with roots in Americana and folk music’s traditions, Alex reads as distinctly modern, except on songs where it instead reads as retro, or on the ones where each of these flavors of past and present collide.”
The album serves as a vessel for Sauser-Monnig's transitional sound, with tracks like “Alone Together” highlighting bright guitars and candid lyrics about isolation: “I don’t really want to see anybody, except my friends and my dog and my paycheck money.” In her track-by-track commentary, she explains the recording process began with acoustic guitars but pivoted to match each song's energy. For “Talk to You,” co-producer Amelia Meath transformed a guitar part into sex metaphors via sound effects.
Other songs delve into personal and broader themes. “Hard On” tackles gender dysphoria with energetic references to Robert Palmer and Huey Lewis, while “Money Hits” reflects on class struggles: “money is imaginary and if you have it, it’s almost as invisible as air, and if you don’t it’s like a brick wall.” “Morning in Madison” captures a doomed crush, inspired by A Charlie Brown Christmas. Tracks like “Willow” stem from a dream of bandmate Nick Sanborn as an Ent, and “Vacation” critiques wealth's corruption after watching The White Lotus season one.
“Song” addresses her father's dementia with unexpected lightness, and “West of West” responds to the 2018 Paradise fire, pondering manifest destiny amid climate change. Captured live elements, such as the breathless crush in “All I Want is You,” add raw energy. Alex is available now via Psychic Hotline.