– Shares new single “Pavlov’s Dog“
– Album ‘in|FLUX’ out this week via City Slang
– UK tour announced
With new album ‘in|FLUX‘ out this week via City Slang, today Anna B Savage is sharing her new single “Pavlov’s Dog” taken from the record. Savage will also tour across the UK this March.
On new single “Pavlov’s Dog“, Savage said “Desire is hard when you know it’s not feasible in the long run, and this song charts that particular bittersweet scenario. A telling of a positive sexual encounter where my sexuality was recognised and expressed and seen as a positive, healthy thing. Of course, I couldn’t write something solely positive, so this is a scenario where you know you both like each other, but you’re worlds just don’t overlap: your woods / my mountains. Ultimately, you have to let that special moment be just that: a single, special moment.”
“Pavlov’s Dog” on YouTube here: http://annabsavage.bio.to/PavlovsDog_Video
Other album pre-save/pre-order links: https://annabsavage.lnk.to/InFlux
Anna B Savage has always asked questions in her music, but on new album ‘in|FLUX‘ answers are no longer her quest. Vulnerability and curiosity have consistently been operative words to describe her work and on her second album she ruminates on the complexities and variables of humanity, the pain or pleasure of love, loss and earthly connection, capturing it all in devastating, elating and powerful ways. The key difference between this and previous releases: she’s not anxious about what’s on the other side. She’s come to appreciate staying afloat – basking even – in the open ended, uncertainty of the grey area. She confidently explores lyrical themes and musical tones of duality – she’s a true artist and she’s given herself grace to believe that which has been audibly freeing.
For Anna B Savage It’s been hard work to get to this point, both in the studio and in the sometimes gruelling work it takes to get there using therapy. Like anyone that has been knows the unfurling of one’s innermost thoughts and feelings – some that you may not even know are there – reveals they are in constant flux. In fact, the aforementioned and operative ‘vulnerability’ attributed to her music before now has a partner, the notion of said ‘flux’.
Because in contrast to previous album ‘A Common Turn’, ‘in|FLUX’ takes Savage on a diametric journey. When faced with the inconsistencies of the world, in your relationships, and within yourself (they often make themselves present in the damning quiet of a therapy room) you want clear cut and irrefutable answers, especially when paired with the pristine superficiality of a life without conflict or nuance portrayed on social media.
Like a lot of women, our feelings are deferred to other authorities (most devastatingly this includes inner imposter voices implanted by a life of patriarchy) “I’ve had a whole lifetime of being told that I don’t know what I feel or want and that the most important thing in my life is relationships” It stifles your ability to navigate tricky circumstances that aren’t black or white. How do you know how to deal with, say, “…making it through a terribly toxic relationship, one that made you so hurt and angry, but still not knowing what to do with all the love you had for them?” says Savage. What about when you’re not trusted enough to explore duality at all?
The first stage to healing from this was simply acknowledging that variances were intrinsic to existing. “I came to accept that inconsistencies and hypocrisies were a part of human nature”, crucially adding that “they all work together to form a whole.” She changed from deeming duality as pejorative to being excited and energised by it. In turn, she began to trust herself: “Trusting that often my instinct is enough, trusting that I am allowed to be multifaceted, and that I can embody and express my dualities and multitudes”, “trust I can express this and be understood…trust myself to be able to write songs again”.
None of the songs were fully formed before entering the studio, the whole experience was fluid and relied on interactions and play with producer Mike Lindsay (Tunng, Lump). Where Savage thought she would fall foul of her own negative self-talk, she spent each morning before seeing Mike working on her ‘Morning Pages’, an idea from the hugely popular book The Artist’s Way, which consisted of writing streams of consciousness to actively enact her unlearning, leaning into instinct.
Though her previous releases have been met with massive critical acclaim, receiving plaudits from the likes of New York Times, NPR and Rolling Stone, and tour support slots with Jenny Hval and Father John Misty, her insecurities made the process fairly gruelling. Instead she approached creating ‘in|Flux’ in a way that was imbued with self-governance and determination, shedding the pressure she had put on herself.
Taking this self-belief forward, she is set to play some of her biggest shows to date in 2023, including London’s Village Underground. “I am so excited to play these songs live. These songs show little pockets of joy, or recovery or hold difficult multitudes within them that hopefully show my development as a person and as a musician”.
“I feel like this album is an exploration of recovery and the journey of therapy,” says Savage. By standing in dichotomy: the light and dark of it, highs and lows it produces, love and loss and everything in between, she explores new plains that unfurl and reveal a different and more self-assured person within. “it’s a difficult thing [to engage in] but can also be the best thing ever, and lead you to feeling completely content.”
It’ll be a sentiment that reaches fans deeply, especially in a time where uncertainty feels a lot more ubiquitous to life in recent memory. We’re all trying really fucking hard to be happy and content, and Anna B Savage is trying really fucking hard too. But she’s equipped more than ever to, as she says, “carve out my own life…know that it can be enjoyable, and lean into that.”
‘in|FLUX’ will be released on February 17th via City Slang.
See Anna B Savage live:
16/03/2023 – Margate, Elsewhere UK
17/03/2023 – Bristol, Strange Brew UK
19/03/2023 – Bodega, Nottingham UK
20/03/2023 – The Cluny, Newcastle UK
21/03/2023 – CCA, Glasgow UK
22/03/2023 – Yes (Pink Room), Manchester UK
24/03/2023 – Whelan’s, Dublin UK
25/03/2023 – Black Box, Belfast UK
27/03/2023 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds UK
28/03/2023 – Village Underground, London UK
29/03/2023 – Patterns, Brighton UK
18/04/2023 – Bumann & Sohn, Cologne DE
19/04/2023 – Le Grand Mix, Lille FR
21/04/2023 – La Boule Noire, Paris FR
22/04/2023 – Paradiso, Amsterdam NL
23/04/2023 – Molotow, Hamburg (w/ The Golden Dregs) DE
25/04/2023 – Krøsset, Oslo NO
26/04/2023 – Hus7, Stockholm SE
27/04/2023 – Vega Ideal Bar, Copenhagen DK
29/04/2023 – Kantine am Berghain, Berlin DE
30/04/2023 – Heppel & Ettlich, Munich DE
02/05/2023 – B72, Vienna AT
04/05/2023 – Covo, Bologna IT
05/05/2023 – Rote Fabrik, Zurich CH
06/05/2023 – Nuits Botanique @ Grand Salon, Brussels BR
14/06/2023 – Roxy, Prague (w/ Son Lux) CZ
15/06/2023 – Klub Stodola, Warsaw ((w/ Son Lux) PL
16/06/2023 – B90, Gdansk (w/ Son Lux) PL
17/06/2023 – Kwadrat, Krakow (w/ Son Lux) PL
18/06/2023 – Durer Kert, Budapest (w/ Son Lux) HU
19/06/2023 – Majestic Music Club, Bratislava (w/ Son Lux) SK
‘in|FLUX’ track list:
1. The Ghost – official video | W. H. Lung Fluxed Version
2. I Can Hear The Birds Now
3. Pavlovs Dog
4. Crown Shyness – official stream
5. Say My Name
6. in|FLUX – official video | Dan Deacon Fluxed Version
7. Hungry
8. Feet Of Clay
9. Touch Me
10. The Orange
