Savages, “The Answer” (Matador, 10/21/2015)
A new Savages track appeared today, together with a release date for the band’s new album – huzzah!
Savages’ debut, Silence Yourself, played with tension and barely contained fury through a dark, post-punk glaze; cathartic spikes poking through in patches. The songs caromed between slow burning intensity and raucous indignation.
With ‘The Answer’, the raucous is turned up to ten (eleven?). Vocalist Jhenny Beth howls like Siouxsie at the center of a druggy, hypnotic maelstrom with hornet’s nest guitars and a driving rhythm that brings to mind psych/space rock, punk, metal, even early industrial. This dizzy intensity matches the lyrics, wherein the ‘answer’ (in case you were curious) is love – a possessive, desperate love that leaves you panicky, insecure (“If you don’t love me, don’t love anybody/And you’re glad it’s you/…Love is the answer/I’ll go insane”). Healthy? Perhaps not, but many of us have had moments where the thought of getting to be with, or hanging on to, someone we desire is the only thing; alternatives too dire. There lies madness…
“The Answer” will appear on Savages’ forthcoming album, Adore Life, due January, 2016, on Matador – and on this evidence, not a moment too soon. It’s available for preorder now, through the band’s website.
