At the young age of 26, Philadelphia based artist (Sandy) Alex G already has nine albums under his belt, spanning from 2010 at the age of 17 to his most recent release House of Sugar which was released in September of 2019. While many (Sandy) Alex G listeners are familiar with Alex’s releases on music streaming platforms (check out https://sandy.bandcamp.com/ for some of his brilliant early releases), there exists a bank of over a hundred songs that haven’t seen the light of day of music platforms. Dedicated (Sandy) Alex G fans scour the darkest parts of the internet (old myspace pages and 2012-era Tumblr) to find songs written by Alex during his high school and college days by himself and his band The Skin Cells. Large quantities of these songs have emerged, which can be found across youtube, as well as on organized databases such as https://unreleasedalexg.github.io/, where fans compiled various unreleased songs into compilations such as Monsterhead.

When asked about these unreleased tracks, Alex typically responds by saying that they are unreleased for a reason, since many of them he wrote from ages 14-16 and just sent to friends of his. He doesn’t want those songs to represent him now as a songwriter since they are from so long ago, but, as he states in an interview with LNWY, “If people like it, then f**k it”. So here is a brief introduction to some of (Sandy) Alex G’s strongest unreleased works:

Written in Blood

“Written in Blood” encapsulates the best traits of an unreleased (Sandy) Alex G Song: demonic lyrics, vocal distortion, and multiple different parts leading into each other. It is a pop song on the surface, with Alex’s voice moving up and down as he sings about his distorted dream reality before moving into the chorus, with his voice shifting to a deep register as he sings about writing a girl a letter with blood from his veins. It is an incredible song that will get stuck in your head for weeks.

Nintendo 64

“Nintendo 64” is arguably the most popular unreleased (Sandy) Alex G song alongside the next track “Be Kind”. While at first listen “Nintendo 64” may sound like an upbeat, yet soft rock song, the lyrics paint a horrifyingly sad picture of suburban existence. “My brother told me that he’s gonna kill himself tonight/ with a whole bottle of prozac or a shiny kitchen knife/ he said that when he is dead ill have his Nintendo 64/ and I can play it all night long sitting on the basement floor” are lyrics that hit a whole other level of morbidity, as he sings these depressing lines followed by a series of humming that portrays an image of child-like ignorance as the world around him burns. “Nintendo 64” was first heard from Alex’s high school band The Skin Cells circa 2011, and is a gateway into (Sandy) Alex G’s songwriting.

Be Kind

“Be Kind” is a beautiful Alex G song written around the age that Alex G was in high school that has never been released as a recording. The only existing versions of the song are live, with the first video just being a young Alex on a staircase singing with an acoustic Guitar. “Be Kind” is very simple compared to other (Sandy) Alex G songs, but has some of Alex’s best lyrics, such as “All your friends wanna sail around the bend/ but I won’t let them take your wind, Mary.”

Fay

Unlike the rest of the songs on this list, “Fay” was released by Alex himself on his youtube channel in 2018. “Fay” is the most recent song on this list, and helps demonstrate the unconventionality of Alex’s music, through his pitched-up vocals, sound effects, and repeated verses, as the song’s only lyrics are “Here they come knocking at my door/ What’s the problem officer, what’s your knocking for?” “Fay” is one of the more refined songs out of his unreleased discography, with a much higher quality production level than the songs he made in high school and college.

Zuicide

“Zuicide” is a great song to listen to if you enjoy heavy production and dark lyrics. “Zuicide” is full of different instruments repeating in a beat-like fashion, with his distorted voice singing of a girl who is contemplating suicide. It is one of the darker Alex G songs, but also one of the most unique in his discography, demonstrating that Alex G has no limits in the types of songs he creates.

Bees

I once saw a tweet that read “What if we kissed inside of Alex G’s fake southern accent? Haha jk…. Unless”. While the tweeter may be referring to “Bad Man” off of his most recent album House of Sugar, “Bees” is the first song to come to mind. Before Alex G took anti-country to the level he does today, there existed “Bees”, an incredibly catchy country/folk rock song about a simple southern boy who wants a woman he can “call his own”. It is almost as if Alex accidentally wrote the perfect country song while trying to rip on country music.

Kara

Released in 2014 on a Bandcamp Seagreen Records Compilation, “Kara” is a classically beautiful song featuring a piano ballad introduction, looping acoustic guitar melodies and Alex singing softly about a girl named Kara. “Kara” features some of Alex’s best vocals as he sings “Blue is the color of Kara’s flame and this one burns for you babe” as the song fades out.

Krying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jc2atPsbQc

Under the youtube video for “Krying”, one user says “this song is lithium by Nirvana for sad indie boys” which couldn’t be a more accurate description of “Krying”. In almost a Doo-Wop fashion, Alex sings “they can’t make you cry, they can try, they can try, they can try” as the upbeat guitar strumming plays in the background. It is a song that will make you smile throughout its’ entirety but then cry when looking back at the experience afterward.

World/Insured

“World/Insured” paints a picture of a man and his wife going through a mid-life crisis, which will start with stealing from their children’s hidden drug stash and ends in burning down a 7/11 as well as the entire world. Sung over a folk-sounding acoustic guitar, “World/Insured” tells a great lyrical story that starts off slow and ends in a bang.

Hole in the Ground

“Hole in the Ground” is one of the more unique Alex G unreleased songs, with Alex singing in a hushed, almost creepy voice about a man in a hole in the ground. The song switches off between three different voices, the first being the creepy, slimy voice telling you to not let the man out of the hole in the ground, the second being a demented demon singing “When I go down to the hole in the ground, then I can be your friend” and the third being the more normal-sounding Alex singing over a burst of energy in the song. “Hole in the Ground” is an intriguing song that showcases the demented nature of Alex’s songwriting.

Wichita, KS

Alex G says “Yeehaw” in this song, therefore, you must listen to it.

Family Tree

“Sitting at the swim club, I’m stretching my quads, everybody wants to be a part of my squad” is one of the strangest Alex G lyrics that is featured in the chorus of “Family Tree”, also known as Track 9. “Family Tree” was released on a tape of unreleased songs called C-sides that Alex handed out during a tour in 2015, and is in the same light as Zuicide, featuring abstract production, with pitched-up vocals and purposefully bad instrumentation.