Album of the Week: Savages, 'Adore Life'
by Mark Wheat
February 01, 2016
Two years ago when Savages, a quartet of young women based in London, released their debut, Silence Yourself, I couldn't keep quiet about how strong it was! Of course I love Joy Division, the Cure, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, so having an updated version of that sound — with an added, tension-filled dash of something seriously sinister — was right up my alley. Savages made it onto my Top 10 list at the end of the year, bright prospects for the future of rock. Their lyrics were one of my favorite features; I could never quite get to grips with what was happening exactly in their songs. The critical response to Savages elsewhere, however, was muted; in fact, a member of the local press criticized us for exaggerating the band's success, making it appear that Savages were blowing up huge everywhere. So we were an anomaly back then, apparently.
Now, Savages' highly stylized image is being used as a symbol of the state of modern music, dressed as they are all in black and looking tough — or looking "hard" as the Brits say. Savages are everywhere, and everyone loves them all of a sudden. Metacritic, the site that collates music reviews, has rated this album an 80 out of 100, which is really good. There have already been long, glowing pieces about Savages on NPR, Pitchfork and in The New York Times. So has the sophomore slump been safely negotiated?
Believe me, I'd love to be on this bandwagon right now, screaming, "I told you so!" but unfortunately it's not working for me yet. I'm not sure it will grow on me, either; I just can't get around the words. I'm a lyrics guy and a lot of the clichéd phrases simply make me grimace, even those that have been highlighted by other reviews. "I need something new" — ironically, this is the title of the sixth song, which was exactly what I was feeling by then.
But they don't deliver, even on the song said to be the centerpiece, "Adore," which feels stilted, striving to be bombastic and laced with lines like "cuts like a knife"?! Surely if the SNL crew were going to make a parody song of this genre the first line would be, "I'm a sad person" — and that's the title and repeated phrase on song number three.
Singer Jehnny Beth, who writes these words, grew up in France. We talked about writing in a second language when Savages came in for a session. The different sentence construction or turns of phrase can be beguiling to the English ear; the new band Hinds, from Spain, use it effectively. But on Adore Life, it left me wondering: Don't the other band members, who apparently consider themselves good friends, not occasionally ask, "Are you sure you want to say it like that!?" Really? "T.I.W.Y.G." (another song title).
There's also been a lot made of the way Savages prepared for the recording of this album. They played a string of small-club shows in NYC to try out the new songs, feeling that they are essentially at their strongest live. Yet this doesn't seem to have been carried through to the end product. The production is shiny, not gritty; pristine rather than filled with the tension that they create live, when they teeter on the brink of collapse. They also suggested in the session interview that they are interested in developing new ways of confronting the audience, that everything they do is high concept. But again, the video for "Adore" smacks of being stereotypically post-punk, with their black attire, Gothic lighting effects and Jehnny's head filling the screen with intense eye contact … if only the words worked.
Don't get me wrong; I do hope that Savages resonate for some, that they pull off the live shows, especially at Coachella and at The Fine Line on May 21 (tickets went on sale Friday). Perhaps I had too many high expectations, or maybe I adore life too much right now to adore Adore Life right now.