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1.
It’s been a long time coming and it finally came I’ve been living without him and I’m feeling ok But I don’t really want to see anybody Except my friends and my dog and my paycheck money But don’t you think we could spend a night or two Scratching that itch and seeing it through Alone together Alone together Alone Alone together Hey I heard your relationship ended too My friend says it’s all on account of the moon And this long string of eclipses Lunar fixes I feel like myself again, do you feel brand new? Don’t you think it could be fun for me and you To be Alone together Alone together Alone Alone together Alone Alone together I don’t really want to try again Cause my belief in love has worn pretty thin And I feel like myself in the day to day But every now and then that drifts away I need to be Alone together Alone together Alone Alone together Alone Alone together Alone Alone together Alone Alone together
2.
Talk To You 02:20
Smile so big that your eyes crinkle back in your face Laugh so large you can hear it from outer space I really want to talk to you I really want to know you I really want to talk to you I really wanna Old tank top with a comic book in your hand Wild hair always falling down in your face I really want to talk to you I really want to know you I really want to talk to you I really wanna Bang bang fang slang Skate back to your soul Tube sock underwear Feel like I’m already old Pipe down brain I can hear you with your same old thing Falling for a person like a person’s gonna solve anything 1 2 I really want to talk to you I really want to know you I really want to talk to you I really want to know you I really want to talk to you I really want to know you I really want to talk to you I really wanna
3.
Hard On 03:04
The sun is up The water’s high Come on baby let me give you what you like Swim all day Sex all night It’s hot already you can see it in the sky Ride downtown Take that right Hit that spot with coffee that I know you like I look at you You look at me It’s ok now honey everyone can see I got a Hard on for loving you I got a Hard on full time I got a Hard on for loving you loving you Even though I know you’re not mine Send me pics I wanna see Your dog is cute your cat looks like he’s onto me Made you a mix I hope you like Are you the kind that likes to read between the lines I got a Hard on for loving you I got a Hard on full time I got a Hard on for loving you loving you Even though I know you’re not mine What it is What would you like Is there a version where the fever never dies I look at you Your cutie too The rawness in the middle keeps the outside true I got a Hard on for loving you I got a Hard on full time I got a Hard on for loving you loving you Even though I know you’re not mine
4.
Morning in Madison I don’t want to go I held you all night just to feel you close You’re a million miles away on the clouds of your dreams I’ll write it all down As dumb as it seems Ahhh Ahhhh Naked in the kitchen while the water gets hot There’s an angel in my sheets and I’m trying to be quiet I’ll keep it here beside me just the way that it was Nothing lasts forever but I’m trying because Ahhh Ahhh Spring is on the corner and among the leaves Daffodils are budding just as green as you please Friends say you don’t deserve it and I know what they mean But I’ve loved you forever and I had to see Ahhh Ahhh Rain in the weather There’s rain in the weather
5.
Money Hits 02:15
Where did Eddy go? Did anybody look in the barrrr We need that money though Without it we won’t get very far Floating, flying Shimmering, diving Like a bird on the wing We won’t really need anything When the money hits Credit on the radio We buy ugly houses Does it matter anyway? We made up the thousands Floating, flying Shimmering, diving Like a bird on the wing We won’t really need anything When the money hits Running through the woods While the water rises Lightning flashes Worlds collide All I wanna know Is there anything Better than Letting go? Doo doo doo doo dooo Where did Eddy go? Did anybody look in the barrrr We need that money though Without it we won’t get very far Floating, flying Shimmering, diving Like a bird on the wing We won’t really need anything Floating, flying Shimmering, diving Like a bird on the wing We won’t really need anything When the money hits
6.
Sitting on my phone The rain is pouring The middle of the day Wondering should I call But I don’t know what I’d say Keeping it to myself is hard to handle Maybe it’s time I get a job But I don’t want to miss a single moment What if you want me and I’m gone?! There’s something about the way you know That all I want is you All I see is you All I want is you All I see is you Radio waves a second hello in the driveway after school I didn’t see them wave the first one cause I was looking at my shoe All of my friends say they like me And I know they’re super sweet Maybe we’d of had a chance but You and I had to meet There’s something about the way you know That all I want is you All I see is you All I want is you All I see is you I wish there was a way That you could understand Where I wouldn’t have to say Cause I don’t think I can Get onto my bike And I will drive you down Get into the ocean And kiss my mouth There’s something about the way you know That all I want is you All I see is you All I want is you All I see is you All I want is you All I see is you All I want is you All I see is you
7.
Willow 03:30
I wanna be in a meadow Far from here With you, with you Lying on a blanket in the sun Picking flowers for a crown One by one by one One by one by one I had a dream That you turned into a tree The air was soft You were a willow Pale green Weaving You were smiling Waving On and on and on On and on and on
8.
Dance 03:13
Glitter in the grey Glitter in the blue Glitter in the waves Crashing over you In the grass in the dark in the heat of the park In the trash and the sweat and the dew On the phone when you call I feel nothing at all But I like the way you do Dance Dance, dance, dance Dance Ahhh Hello to the day Coffee in the shade Blues in the sun Trying to have fun With the roll of the wheel and the weight of the heel And the world coming into view With the lean and the curve and the skate and the swerve And the heaviness of you I wanna dance Dance Dance, dance, dance Dance Ahhh I’m not A lot I just Wanna dance dance dance Dance Ahhhh Sitting on the curb Trying to catch a bird With a piece of bread Lonely in my head On the hot blacktop of the parking lot with gum on the bottom of my shoe With sweat in my hand you’re the type of a man makes me feel this kind of blue I wanna dance Dance Dance, dance, dance Dance Ahhh
9.
Strange 02:25
Walking in the city I spy something strange Someone call Aunt Katie I think I found her angel Strange I feel strange But it’s just a natural reaction To a world coming apart at the seams Party at a girl’s house Lying on the floor Right now in this moment I think there’s something more Strange I feel strange But it’s just a natural reaction To a world coming apart at the seams Take me to the motel Put me in any room I need to be alone now But I’ll come down soon Strange I feel strange But it’s just a natural reaction To a world coming apart at the seams Foot on the gas Taking a pass Making a mess of things
10.
Vacation 02:27
Simply put we are not the same But if you want I could play the game and rise Make me one with a millionaire I’ll try it out and we’ll see just how I fare I like it I won’t deny it I enjoy it I’m delighted With the secret location where you go on vacation Palm trees wave in a dreamy breeze Hummingbird yellow daiquiris in the sun Margarita of Espolon Take my hand and we’ll carry on all night long I like it I won’t deny it I enjoy it I’m delighted With the secret location where you go on vacation All the waiters sing a song I like so much I find I’m singing along Lying by the tennis court You touch my thigh below my skort And I’m gone I like it I won’t deny it I enjoy it I’m delighted I like it I won’t deny it I enjoy it I’m delighted With the secret location where you go on vacation
11.
Song 03:28
Sing me a song to sing to A song to smile to A song that rings true I know you are leaving I know you are leaving Mmhmm Sing me a song to sleep to A song to dream to A song to be to I know you are leaving I know you are leaving Mmhmm Sing me a song to cry to A song to live through A song to be to I know you are leaving I know you are leaving Mmhmm
12.
West of West 03:47
West of West West in the sun Bright, shining one Waves crashing on the beach Wind blowing through the trees I got the kids in the back You got the dog I got the cat Where did Webby say to meet? Was that the road, was that the street? They’re fighting flames on the ridge It hopped the highway and the bridge Babe, speed up It’s the next turn beyond that truck Paradise, Last Retreat Smoky skies, burning heat Melted rubber on the ground Mother, daughter Can’t be found Love, our love Our love, our love Love Love West of West West in the sun Bright, shining one Waves crashing on the beach Wind blowing through the trees

about

Daughter of Swords is the solo project of North Carolina singer-songwriter Alex Sauser-Monnig (they/she), who has also released music with bands Mountain Man and The A’s. Their solo debut, Dawnbreaker, was a hushed folk record released in 2019; in the years since, Sauser-Monnig found a new understanding of self, personally and musically.

Across the last several years, Daughter of Swords’ music has grown thornier, an unpredictable and knotty tangle of technicolor synths, heady guitar, bubbling rhythms, a sheen enveloping songs about raw human intensity writ large – crushes, desire, anger, alienation, the horrors of late-stage capitalism, the cascading paradigm shifts it seems we're all hurtling toward.

Enter Alex, Daughter of Sword’s sinewy sophomore solo record due out this spring via Psychic Hotline. Recorded at Betty’s, Sylvan Esso’s Chapel Hill studio, Alex was built out by Sauser-Monnig’s longtime friends/collaborators Amelia Meath (Sylvan Esso, Mountain Man, The A’s), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes), Nick Sanborn (Sylvan Esso, Made of Oak), TJ Maiani (Weyes Blood, Neneh Cherry), and Caleb Wright (Hippo Campus, Samia).

There’s a sharp cerebral tension between the stories at the core of these songs and the electrifying, playful buoyancy of the sound, the wink with which Sauser-Monnig can deliver a withering observation. Reckoning with pleasure-seeking, boundary-breaking, and their place in the world, Alex heralds a fresh chapter of exploration and liberation for Sauser-Monnig, yielding the truest representation of their identity via song yet.

A reassessment of inner systems, and relationships of all sorts — with art and creativity, with other humans, with gender – happened in tandem with Sauser-Monnig’s interrogation of the late-capitalist culture that makes life for working artists an inequitable grind. Forced out of their habitual ways of thinking and being, Sauser-Monnig found new energy in dissolving old limitations—be they about the music business or their concept of gender—and exploring in uncharted territory. Their priority became maximizing the mood of each track, borne out in Alex’s layers of synthetic textures and unorthodox flourishes.

“Alone Together,” the standalone single released this past fall (hailed as “a playful blast of candid indie rock” by Stereogum and “a crushing hum” by Paste), was the first preview from this fresh chapter of exploration and liberation, from the kinetic collection of new work that makes up Alex. Written from the POV of someone freshly single and alone and building a new sense of identity, “Alone Together” follows that confident new sense of self and emotional protection as it bends under the physical need for sex, connection, and closeness. That specifically fresh, raw form of desire – and the peculiar sense of aplomb that comes from newfound freedom– appears throughout the record, stringing together a gritty, kaleidoscopic and unpredictable tilt-a-whirl of high-octane guitar rock colliding with some folk song sensibilities.

“I feel strange/But it’s just a natural reaction/To a world coming apart at the seams,” they sing in “Strange.” These personal excavations led Sauser-Monnig to a clear personal mission, which they explain succinctly: “I refuse to let the state of the world deny me the ability to live in joy, while also trying to show up for others.”

credits

released April 11, 2025

Produced by Amelia Meath, Nick Sanborn & Alex Sauser-Monnig
Additional production by Caleb Wright
Mixed by Caleb Wright
Recorded at Betty’s
Engineered by Alli Rogers
Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios

Artwork and package design by Graham Tolbert and Alex Sauser-Monnig

“Alone Together”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal
Jenn Wasner - guitar
TJ Maiani - drums
Nick Sanborn - guitar, bass, drums, programming

“Talk To You”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal, breath
Amelia Meath - breath, programming
Nick Sanborn - guitar, piano, synths, programming

“Hard On”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal
Amelia Meath - vocal, drums
Caleb Wright - piano, bench
Nick Sanborn - guitar, bass, synths, programming

“Morning In Madison”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal
Matt Douglas - sax
TJ Maiani - drums
Nick Sanborn - bass, piano

“Money Hits”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal
Nick Sanborn - guitars, bass, piano, drums, programming

“All I Want Is You”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal, guitar
Amelia Meath - vocal
Caleb Wright - drums
Nick Sanborn - bass, guitar

“Willow”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal
Matt Douglas - sax
Caleb Wright - bowed bass, guitar
TJ Maiani - drums
Nick Sanborn - bass, piano

“Dance”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal
Nick Sanborn - guitar, bass, drums, modular

“Strange”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal
TJ Maiani - drums
Nick Sanborn - guitar, bass, synths, programming
Caleb Wright - shaker

“Vacation”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal, guitar
Caleb Wright - guitar, synths
Nick Sanborn - bass, synths, piano, drums, programming

“Song”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal, guitar

“West of West”
Alex Sauser-Monnig - vocal, guitar
Matt Douglas - sax
TJ Maiani - drums
Nick Sanborn - bass, piano, harmonium, programming

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Daughter of Swords Durham, North Carolina

Daughter of Swords is Alexandra Sauser-Monnig of Mountain Man.

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