| You're reading the page dedicated to the album. Don't be confused with the song of the same name. |
Girl With No Face is the fifth studio album and third major-label studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Allie X. The album was released on February 23rd, 2024, through Twin Music Inc, and was made available for digital download, CD, vinyl and cassette.
Background[]
The album is Allie X's first in four years, and started in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. Unlike her other records such as Cape God and Super Sunset, which she always tried to "tie a bow around" with a clear concept and message, "Girl With No Face" is more mysterious.[1]
Allie first started to tease the album on December 4th, 2020 when she responded to a comment asking what it would sound like, saying it would sound like a Disney Princess produced by electronic German band Kraftwerk.[2]
On November 21st, 2021, after the release of the deluxe version of Allie's 2020 studio album Cape God, she mentioned being "lost in the vortex of creating a new world" In an email sent out to fans,[3] then on November 29th, 2021, while celebrating her song Bitch reaching 40 Million streams on Spotify, Allie revealed that she's producing the whole album on her own,[4]
"I've produced my next album myself, which is an incredibly challenging and intimidating process to say the least."
On December 1st, 2022, Allie revealed in her Spotify wrapped video that a new record was on the way,[5] and on August 3rd, after a long period of being quiet, Allie revealed that she feels almost ready to share what she’s been working on.[6]
On October 3rd, 2023, she teased new music on her social medias,[7] and on October 12th, 2023, she officially started the era by announcing the release of the first single off the album, Black Eye.[8]
Promotion[]
With the release of the title track, Girl With No Face, on November 16th, 2023, Allie X posted the album cover to her socials, also announcing pre orders for the album being up for sale as Vinyl, CD and a cassette on her webstore.
On February 11, 2024, Allie held a secret show at HEAV3N in LA where she performed the album songs for the first time.[9][10]
Singles[]
On October 3rd, 2023, Allie posted a picture to her socials with lyrics in her caption,[11] nine days later on October 12, 2023, she announced the lead single, Black Eye, to be released at midnight.[12] The single was released with a visualizer, and an official music video was released October 31st.
On November 13, 2023, the title track Girl With No Face was announced to be released as the second single on November 16th, 2023,[13] and was released with a visualizer.
On January 18, 2024, Off With Her Tits was released as the third single from the album with a visualizer.
On February 21, 2024, Weird World was released as the fourth and final single off the album with a visualizer. A music video for the song would come out alongside the album on February 23, 2024.
Composition[]
The album strays away from her previous work, transporting back to the eighties and late Seventies. Allie X describes the album as "aggressive, indulgent and bold".[1]
Allie wrote and produced the album by herself,
"It almost made me dizzy because I went so deep into it. I said, ‘I’m not going to be trying to please anyone else, because there’s literally no one else in this room.’ I may have created something that’s completely off-trend here, but it’s definitely something that I enjoy."
— via Rolling Stone
There are touches of Joy Division, Cocteau Twins, Blondie, and Vince Clarke across the album, and lots of LinnDrum beats. Allie also says that one song "has an early Madonna thing and then a bit of Kate Bush as well."[1]
Critical reception[]
Upon release, Girl with No Face was met with acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 85, based on seven reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [14]
Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung declared that the album was, "Heavy on the '80s influence, it's both nostalgic and futuristic, placing Allie X into the sonic tradition that she used for inspiration. A revelatory experience that's somehow been hidden within her all these years, Girl with No Face is a bold reclamation of artistic self from a thrilling pop auteur."[15]DIY writer Otis Robinson described the album as, "Like a thespian Transylvanian vampire in leathery gay bars, on third album Girl With No Face, Allie X careens through ghoulish ‘80s glam rock, weaving together sounds of the analogue, the synthetic and the theatrical: an energetic retrospection to digest all the mundane, vulgar, maddening and unsettling future contemporaneity she faces". [16] Tom Kingsley of The Line of Best Fit praised the albums retro 80s sound, writing that "Pastiche is a risk for many artists, but for Hughes it’s an opportunity, giving her unsettling, shape-shifting persona full command" and that "If Cape God felt like Hughes beginning to create her own universe, Girl with No Face marks her apotheosis as her deity."[17]
In the review for Slant Magazine, Dana Poland compared the album to Hughes' previous releases; " Almost every song on Girl with No Face was written and produced by Hughes, and this creative autonomy gives the album a personal touch that past releases like 2017’s CollXtion II lacked. The songs here are imbued with an obvious newfound strength and confidence. [18]
Tracklist[]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Weird World" | Alexandra Hughes | Hughes | 3:59 |
| 2. | "Girl With No Face" | Hughes, Das Kope | Hughes | 4:23 |
| 3. | "Off With Her Tits" | Hughes, Yannick Lecomte | Hughes, Lecomte | 3:16 |
| 4. | "John and Jonathan" | Hughes | Hughes | 4:22 |
| 5. | "Galina" | Hughes | Hughes | 4:30 |
| 6. | "Hardware/Software" | Hughes | Hughes | 2:28 |
| 7. | "Black Eye" | Hughes, Kope | Hughes | 4:32 |
| 8. | "You Slept On Me" | Hughes | Hughes | 4:11 |
| 9. | "Saddest Smile" | Hughes | Hughes | 3:07 |
| 10. | "Staying Power" | Hughes | Hughes | 4:12 |
| 11. | "Truly Dreams" | Hughes, Kope | Hughes | 4:33 |
All songs feature additional production by Justin Meldal-Johnsen.
Music Videos[]
| No. | Title | Release Date | Director | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Black Eye" | October 31st, 2023 | Allie X | 4:33 |
| 2. | "Weird World" | February 23rd, 2024 | Allie X, Brian Hindle | 4:06 |
Gallery[]
Photoshoot by Marcus Cooper[]
Merchandise[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/allie-x-new-album-girl-with-no-face-1234879341/amp/
- ↑ https://x.com/alliexcanada/status/1667738779262541825?s=46&t=TGML588DkXBbqj7ms0CMpQ
- ↑ https://x.com/alliexcanada/status/1667738794341089282?s=46&t=TGML588DkXBbqj7ms0CMpQ
- ↑ https://x.com/alliex/status/1465451061813170176?s=46&t=TGML588DkXBbqj7ms0CMpQ
- ↑ https://x.com/alliexcanada/status/1667739290376306689?s=46&t=TGML588DkXBbqj7ms0CMpQ
- ↑ https://x.com/alliexcanada/status/1686992385819955201?s=46&t=TGML588DkXBbqj7ms0CMpQ
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx8cEcqRyr7/?igsh=MWJkZnJvYnJxc2J4Yw==
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CyT1RxwP59J/?igsh=MWFyMzI4eHMzeGk4dg==
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3LssOVvJ1b/?igsh=MTNxZWI0ajV2Mm5taw==
- ↑ https://youtu.be/HOcbsEUif8k?si=zfc9SoUXpcxWngvQ
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx8cEcqRyr7/?igsh=MWJkZnJvYnJxc2J4Yw==
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CyT1RxwP59J/?igsh=MWFyMzI4eHMzeGk4dg==
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/reel/Czl2SELL8lL/?igsh=NGtoaG5qb3BmN3Ft
- ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/music/girl-with-no-face/allie-x
- ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/girl-with-no-face-mw0004150120
- ↑ https://diymag.com/review/album/girl-with-no-face
- ↑ https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/allie-x-girl-with-no-face-brilliantly-bonkers
- ↑ https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/allie-x-girl-with-no-face-album-review/