Love Songs Drug Songs is the third and major-label debut EP by American rock band X Ambassadors, released on May 7, 2013.[1] The EP is the band's first release under the X Ambassadors name following their signing onto Interscope Records. It spawned one single: "Unconsolable".
Composition
Shannon Carlin of Radio.com described the style of Love Songs Drug Songs as being "in the vein of old '60s soul, '90s R&B, and funk".[2] Matt Collar of AllMusic stated, "Musically, X Ambassadors build a percussive mix of synthesizers, booming drums, and atmospheric guitar lines around vocalist Sam Harris' yearning, robust cry" while revealing "their love for mixing contemporary R&B inflections with a sweeping, '80s new wave sensibility".[3]
According to X Ambassadors frontman Sam Harris, the album is inspired by the "bizarre" and "dreary" town of Ithaca that is "rainy and cold for 80 percent of the time".[4] Nadia Noir of KROQ-FM noted the "sly irreverence and naughty hip-hop style sexual references in some of the songs" on the album.[4] Speaking of the message of the EP, Harris stated, "I don’t know what we want to say. But we have to say something."[2]
Critical reception
Writing for AllMusic, Matt Collar rated Love Songs Drug Songs four stars out of five, calling it "a passionate, literate, and moving collection".[3] In a very positive review, Robert Treves of Indie Current said the album "is packed full of triumphant, genre-blending tracks." He commented, "X Ambassadors [...] have really defined their own sound throughout this release."[5]
