Cigarettes After Sex was formed in
El Paso, Texas, by
Greg Gonzalez in 2008. Mitali Shah of
Harper's Bazaar India considers the name "extremely catchy", while Sarah Kidd writing for Ambient Light Blog calls it "the name that you just can't forget". Gonzalez relocated to
Brooklyn, New York, where the band's single "Affection" was recorded and released in 2015 along with a cover of
REO Speedwagon's "
Keep On Loving You". Through music recommendations, Cigarettes After Sex became popular on
YouTube, leading to live performances across Europe, Asia, and the United States. The band then released their
self-titled debut studio album on June 9, 2017. "
Apocalypse" was released as the second single from their debut album
Cigarettes After Sex on March 21, 2017. It was written and produced by vocalist
Greg Gonzalez. It did not chart internationally until 2022, following its use in
TikTok trends. The song, as of August 25, 2025, has amassed over 2 billion streams on Spotify. In August 2019 the band announced their second studio album, titled
Cry, along with the single "Heavenly". The album was released on October 25, 2019. The band released the single "You're All I Want" in 2020 and, two years later, released a single titled "Pistol", in November 2022. In July 2023, the band released a pair of singles, "Bubblegum" and "Stop Waiting". In December 2023, the band released a cover of
Radiohead's song "
Motion Picture Soundtrack". On February 28, 2024, the band announced their third studio album ''
X's''. On the same day, they also announced that they would embark on the
X's World Tour in support of the album, taking place throughout 2024 and 2025, and released its lead single "Tejano Blue", in which Gonzalez stated was inspired by his years growing up in his hometown. To further the album's promotion, "Dark Vacay" was released on April 16, 2024, as the album's second single, with "Baby Blue Movie" following it on June 4, 2024. ''X's'' was released on July 12, 2024, to favorable reception. On October 21, 2025, another pair of singles released, a cover of
The Doors' song "
The Crystal Ship", along with an original song titled "Anna Karenina", named after the
novel. The band have used
Man Ray's photographs for their artwork. Their first EP used a photograph of his titled 'Anatomies' which featured
Lee Miller with her head thrown back. They used another titled 'Rayograph', featuring a feather, for their single "Affection". ==Musical style and influences==