Rising London songwriter Anna B Savage has delivered a second single, “Dead Pursuits”, ahead of a debut album that is projected for later this year. It further marks her out as one of the most compelling voices to emerge in recent memory.
Savage possesses the kind of voice that can encompass the spectrum of feelings from powerful to hopelessness in a single breath. She uses it to devastating effect on “Dead Pursuits”, which finds her singing over plaintive guitar about all the futile actions she’s taking to try to spur her out of her persistent numbness. “Pretend I’m OK but I’m choking / I’ll try anything, I’ll buy anything,” she sings, her voice fraught with beautiful desperation. “Dead Pursuits” then becomes more layered with swirling guitars that carry her vulnerable admissions up into the atmosphere, where they seem to dissolve into dust. She concludes the song in the pits of despair, repeatedly asking “is anyone listening?”, reaching out for someone to reciprocate the pure emotion she’s poured into “Dead Pursuits”. This gives the devastating song a resounding and soul-shaking conclusion.
“Dead Pursuits” can be heard alongside a hand-drawn animated video by the artist Carolina Aguirre. The songwriter says:
“I’ve been a fan of Carolina’s style and output for many, many years. When she sent me the treatment for this video I cried. Her allegorical tale so perfectly expresses that feeling of a loss of confidence, and a questioning of identity.
“I feel an incredible amount of catharsis to have made something so beautiful and emotive from such a low point, and for that song to have prompted such an incredible, affecting visual companion.”
Hopefully there will be news about Anna B Savage’s debut album coming soon. For now, you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
