A couple years ago, the Austin-based musician Alex Peterson released their debut album under the name alexalone, ALEXALONEWORLD, after stints in Hovvdy and Lomelda’s live bands. They hit the road with Lomelda soon after that album was released and a new iteration of the project started to form, made up of Peterson, Sam Jordan, Drewsky Hulett, Mari Maurice, and Hannah Read.

Last year, those musicians and more released a fractious compilation Lomelda and alexalone Present: More for the Both of Us, a Compilation of Two Songs. As Peterson got to work on a new album with those members in mind, they started to fracture, but not before descending on Hannah and brother Tommy Read’s studio in Silsbee, Texas and knocking out four tracks. A little bit down the line, alexalone recorded one more song with a slightly different configuration of musicians.

If all that sounds a bit convoluted and confusing, that’s reflected on ALEXALONE TECHNICAL RESEARCH, the collection of five dense and heady tracks that stands as alexalone’s sophomore album. You won’t have to wait long to hear the whole thing — it’ll be out digitally this Friday — and today alexalone are sharing a single from it, “All I Need,” accompanied by a stunning music video directed by Hulett and Ivy Chiu.

Peterson had this to say about the track:

for the last three years, i was living with my family in georgetown. it was my first time living in the suburbs, not to mention the pandemic so the only places you could go were outside. i had been wanting to do hrt for a while and this kind of isolated environment actually ended up being ideal since i had my family who knew me really well to get through the second puberty of sorts. the song is kind of processing all of those things and asking questions about how things could be. pretty open ended but that’s the future i guess. for the second half we all figured out a progression that felt in line with the emotions of the ‘song part’ but was moving even slower. sometimes finding what you need is a real slog.

Watch and listen below.

And here’s what directors Drewsky Hulett and Ivy Chiu said about the video:

Something we (Ivy and Drewsky) discussed early on in the ideation of this music video was movement: yes, movement in the literal sense of dance and cinematic motion, but also movement through life from birth to rebirth and so on. The constant revisions of purpose and direction in our own lives have always felt simultaneously like a repetitious nightmare and a superpower – to be malleable enough to flow with everything life brings and resilient enough to maintain a sense of self.

We wanted to reflect some of alexalone’s processes for writing and performing their music throughout our film-making process; they rely on friendship, play, and experimentation to craft epic and imaginative songs. In this spirit, we decided to approach everything with a healthy dose of improvisation. This meant that collaboration and experimentation from every performer and crew member were leading the creative vision, and the result is this beautifully rich expression of discovery, curiosity, and the inherent eeriness of finding one’s way through life.

We were lucky to be joined by some of our favorite drag and movement performers from Austin’s vibrant queer community, and our incredibly talented film community, who all generously gave so much to this project

TRACKLIST:
01 “ALL I NEED”
02 “FULL BODY LEARNING”
03 “LEVITATE”
04 “ANGELMAKER”
05 “HEAD IN THE CLOUDS”

TOUR DATES:
09/28 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk $
09/29 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger $
10/13 – Austin, TX @ Swan Dive +
10/28 – Austin, TX @ Parish – Levitation %
11/01 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge %
11/02 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah %
11/03 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room %
11/04 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel %
11/06 – Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s %
11/07 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios %
11/08 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux %
11/09 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court %
11/10 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall %
11/11 – Fort Collins, CO @ The Lyric %
11/13 – Kansas City, MO @ Minibar
11/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry %
11/15 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon %
11/16 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
11/17 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle %
11/18 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar %
11/19 – Detroit, MI @ Outer Limits
11/20 – Toronto, ON @ The Monarch Tavern
11/24 – New York City, NY @ Baby’s All Right
11/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ Haus
11/27 – Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House
11/28 – Asheville, NC @ Static Age
11/30 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
12/01 – Austin, TX @ The Parish #
02/06 – Austin, TX @ The Ballroom ∞
02/07 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada ∞
$ w/ Frankie Cosmos, Good Morning (duo)
% w/ Speedy Ortiz
+ w/ Lauren Lakis
% w/ Palehound
# w/ Deerhoof
∞ w/ Squirrel Flower

ALEXALONE TECHNICAL RESEARCH is out digitally this Friday (9/29) and physically on 10/27 via Polyvinyl.