Biography
From an El Paso stairwell to arena stages
El Paso roots and early drafts
Greg Gonzalez grew up in El Paso, Texas, where his father worked in video movie distribution and the house was full of films. He began writing songs around the age of ten and has said he wanted them to work like movies, giving the listener a scene to picture. Before Cigarettes After Sex found its final shape, he played bass in local cover bands and sang acoustic sets of Everly Brothers and Ricky Nelson material, gathering the old-fashioned pop instincts that still sit underneath the band's slower tempos.
Gonzalez founded Cigarettes After Sex in El Paso in 2008. The first version of the project leaned on new wave and synth pop, he has said, citing Erasure, New Order, and early Madonna, before an obsession with the Smiths and the Jesus and Mary Chain darkened it further. In a 2017 interview he described the band as going through a series of drafts, each one torn down and rebuilt until the sound finally matched the name he had chosen.
The stairwell recordings
By 2012 Gonzalez had hit a hard year: a close friend died and a relationship ended. Around the same time he discovered the Cowboy Junkies' The Trinity Session, recorded with a single microphone, and decided to strip Cigarettes After Sex back to basics. He returned to confessional lyrics and anti-production arrangements, then cut the four-song EP I. in a four-story stairwell at the University of Texas at El Paso, later calling the session basically an accident and kind of an experiment.
Released in 2012, I. carried the song Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby, whose cover used a Man Ray photograph. Gonzalez soon moved to New York, where sparse Cigarettes After Sex shows, a stint managing a cinema in Manhattan, and other day jobs filled the years. He has recalled believing that press attention would unlock the band's future and being wrong about it: nothing happened for a long time, and by 2015 he was in debt while bandmates had left the city before an album was finished.
Brooklyn, virality, and Partisan Records
In Brooklyn, Gonzalez met bassist Randall Miller and drummer Jacob Tomsky, who became the band's durable core alongside him. The single Affection arrived in 2015 with a cover of REO Speedwagon's Keep On Loving You on the B-side, still without much notice. Then a fan upload of the 2012 track Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby began circulating on YouTube, and by 2016 the years-old song was reaching listeners constantly. Gonzalez has described the surge as a storm; the band opened an official channel, booked a European tour, and signed to Partisan Records.
Partisan issued K. in November 2016, then Apocalypse in March 2017 and Each Time You Fall in Love in May, setting up the debut. Critics liked what they heard. Pitchfork admired the record's restraint, noting how repetition and muted playing built a story in the pauses; The Guardian praised Gonzalez's voice and the strength of the tunes while chiding some of the lyrics; PopMatters called the hype justified. The gap between hushed delivery and blunt language has followed the band ever since.
The self-titled debut
Cigarettes After Sex was released on June 9, 2017, recorded largely in front of a small audience with Miller, Tomsky, and keyboardist Phillip Tubbs. Ten songs moved at roughly the same unhurried pace, from the twang of K. to the widescreen Apocalypse and the playground imagery of Sunsetz. Reviews were strong across the board: Metacritic later aggregated generally favorable notices, Pitchfork heard an even-keeled slowcore set whose similarities became strengths, and The Guardian wrote that, lyrical gaffes aside, it might count among the year's debut albums.
The record kept traveling after its release. It peaked at number 27 on the UK Albums Chart and charted in the United States, Australia, and several European countries, while certification followed in multiple territories: platinum in the United States from the RIAA, gold in the United Kingdom from the BPI, and platinum in France from the SNEP, with further awards in Poland, Denmark, Italy, and New Zealand. Apocalypse and K. were later certified platinum at home, and Apocalypse eventually returned to international charts after circulating on social platforms years after release.
Cry and the years between
Cry arrived on October 25, 2019. Gonzalez rented a mansion on the Spanish island of Mallorca and cut nine instrumental tracks during night sessions the week the debut was released, then wrote lyrics over time as the band toured; he has said the record is tied to its location and that he thinks of it as a film stitched from scenes. The lead single Heavenly was named BBC Radio 1's Hottest Record by Annie Mac, and the album reached number 36 on the UK Albums Chart.
Reception split without dividing the audience. NME heard a headphones record of seductive grooves and slow-burning lust; Pitchfork found Gonzalez's writing one-dimensional; AllMusic emphasized the cinematic setting and the hush of Gonzalez's voice. Between full-lengths the group issued stand-alone singles including You're All I Want, Pistol, Bubblegum, and Stop Waiting, plus a cover of Radiohead's Motion Picture Soundtrack, and Gonzalez collaborated with the composer Daniele Luppi on the 2022 EP Charm of Pleasure.
X's and the present day
X's, the third album, was released on July 12, 2024, largely recorded in a Los Angeles house near the Hollywood Hills. Where earlier records drew on many relationships, Partisan's release notes describe this one as centering on a single four-year romance; Gonzalez told The Independent that singing the songs as the relationship ended was emotionally bleak, and said he was not bitter about it. Tejano Blue, Dark Vacay, and Baby Blue Movie preceded the album, which drew generally favorable reviews at Metacritic and reached number 12 on the UK Albums Chart.
The band supported the album with the X's World Tour, running through 2024 and 2025 with arena nights that included Madison Square Garden and London's O2 and dates across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Gonzalez joined Karol G at Coachella in April 2026 to perform Después de ti, and the band has kept releasing music: Anna Karenina arrived in 2025 and the single Twizzler on May 19, 2026, with Partisan. The lineup remains Gonzalez, Miller, and Tomsky, and the songs stay in their established register: patient, romantic, and unhurried.
Selected moments
Career highlights
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Cigarettes After Sex formed in El Paso
Greg Gonzalez founded the project in his hometown, initially drawing on new wave and synth pop before stripping the sound back.
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Debut EP I. recorded in a university stairwell
The four-song EP was cut in a four-story stairwell at the University of Texas at El Paso and introduced Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby.
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YouTube breakthrough and Partisan Records deal
A fan upload of the 2012 track went viral, leading to a European tour and a record deal; the single K. followed in November.
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Self-titled debut album released
Issued June 9 on Partisan Records, the album peaked at number 27 on the UK Albums Chart and charted in the United States, Australia, and across Europe.
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Second album Cry released
Recorded in Mallorca and led by the single Heavenly, Cry arrived on October 25, 2019 and reached number 36 on the UK Albums Chart.
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Apocalypse returns to the charts
The 2017 single did not chart internationally until 2022, when social-media circulation pushed it to number 16 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100.
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Third album X's and world tour
X's was released July 12, 2024 with singles Tejano Blue, Dark Vacay, and Baby Blue Movie, and the band toured through 2024 and 2025.
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Twizzler single and Coachella appearance
After the 2025 single Anna Karenina, the band issued Twizzler in May 2026; Gonzalez had joined Karol G at Coachella that April.