Location and love are what keep Anna B Savage grounded. Her latest album, You & i are Earth, is “a love letter to a man and to Ireland” and it’s the sound of contentment flowing through her veins. A gentle record in sentiment and approach, You & i are Earth is a soothing breath after her previous two albums, A Common Turn and in|FLUX; its songs are the feeling of hands wrapped around a hot cup of tea on a cold day, the sea air filling your lungs on a bright morning. As she crisply sings on the album’s opening track, “This warmth / This is how it should be,”
And this is You & i are Earth’s best strength: its intimacy, its cosiness, and its unabashed adoration of its subjects. “I reach for you in my Sleep”, with a drowsy morning haziness, conjures a tangible sense of closeness as a harmonium hums in the background. “You were reaching for me too,” Savage sings with an adoring and comforted smile as she realises her partner was doing exactly what she found herself doing. The sentimental “Mo cheol Thú” turns a lack of direct Irish translation of those three special words into a transformative ode that uses beds of clarinets, spindles of piano, and low thrums of guitar to create a rousing and mystical atmosphere. Final track “The rest of our Lives” ends the album on a hopeful and loving note; “There’s no rush / We’ve the rest of our lives,” Savage exhales as bobs of vocal harmonies sprout around her like mushrooms from moss.
Sometimes the album is so dainty, so airy and slight that you don’t fully register it has been and gone. Barely breaking a half hour runtime, it sweeps by with the gentleness of a disappearing dream in the morning. Short moments like the Parachutes-inspired “Big & Wild” or the dusky “Incertus” pass by in what seems like a moment’s notice, leading you to more vibrant and textured moments. When the drama simmers though, it does often make for stirring effect. “Donegal” jitters about with piano, guitar, and drums, capturing an unsettled sense of homesickness and worry about moving to a new place. “Agnes” utilises Anna Mieke’s coo to elicit a sense of magic as Savage combines Irish folklore with personal therapeutic practices. “There’s magic here” begins as a fascination before switching to become a lure from the titular figure.
Savage’s sturdy songwriting and sincere delivery are what make You & i are Earth a success. Although it takes her and her mindset off the proverbial gas cooker, her voice still stirs. Aforementioned “Donegal” shows a wistful and aged tone like the voice of an old forest, while “Lighthouse” sounds assured in its simplicity as a love song (“I know he’ll guide me home / And I see the light’s on”). Producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy certainly helps, eking out those mythical edges and striking a welcome balance in letting layers form without it ever sounding overstuffed. A crew of talented local musicians are also crucial in this: Kate Ellis makes her cello strings sound like seagull calls on “Lighthouse” while Caimin Gilmore’s double bass creates a push and pull, like waves crashing against the rocks. Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada on violin adds touches of an impish, folky tone on opening track “Talk to Me”, creating an effect like light creeping through a gap in curtains.
The prevailing sentiment on You & i are Earth is, unsurprisingly, one of love. “I love you,” is something Savage iterates multiple times across the album, and it’s never done with anything less than a dewy-eyed sincerity. It’s this candid demeanour that makes the album inviting, cosy, and inhabitable, a space to sit and be within for a short while. Savage lives there and she welcomes us in each time; the sound of waves softly crashing on the album’s opening track is like a beckoning to her sanctuary. She reckons with her own unease about moving; she quietly indicts colonialism in Ireland; she softly looks inside herself; and she proudly portrays outwards about what makes her feel grounded. It is love, it is a location. It is a tangible feeling she shares with the world, a small and personal offering to listeners who would like to draw on her warmth.
