Better Than The Book

Cigarettes After Sex’s Latest Single Double

Photo from Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

On Oct. 21, 2025, Cigarettes After Sex released a double A-side single called “Anna Karenina,” featuring the two songs “Anna Karenina” and “The Crystal Ship.” This is the most recent release from Cigarettes After Sex, who had put out their album “X’s” in 2024. Cigarettes After Sex has released a total of three albums and over a dozen singles. 

“Anna Karenina” is a song that features both spoken and sung lyrics. It follows a tragic love story, capturing emotions such as heartbreak and despair. The song references Leo Tolstoy’s novel, which follows a love affair between characters Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky. In the novel, Karenina leaves her family for Vronsky, but their love ultimately leads to her unhappiness and eventual suicide by jumping in front of a train. The song, “Anna Karenina” heavily references her death with the lyrics, “I cried at the end of Anna Karenina / When she threw herself under the train.” 

The single “The Crystal Ship” by Cigarettes After Sex is a cover of The Doors’ “The Crystal Ship.” This song was composed as a love song after lead vocalist Jim Morrison ended his first serious relationship.