Love and life after the silence

AN UNEXPECTED distraction reared its head as Anglo-French new wave rockers Savages were deep into recording their second album, Adore Life, last year, writes Ed Power

One morning, arena overlords Coldplay turned up at the adjoining studio, with the cast of the hit fantasy epic Game Of Thrones in tow. For the earnest indie urchins next door, it was a proper head-turning moment.

“Coldplay were making a Game of Thrones musical for Red Nose Day,” says bassist Ayse Hassan. “At least two of us are massive Game of Thrones fans. I was in the studio kitchen when in walks [GoT character] Jon Snow. The Red Lady was there too. I can’t remember any of their real names. But it was just fabulous.”

The idea of Savages coming over starstruck in the presence of mere television stars is, on the face of it, surprising.

In public, the quartet are austere and self-serious with a vengeance, their songs an unapologetically arty marriage of guitar and free-association lyrics. It is easy to imagine them sitting around discussing their favourite Sylvia Plath poems. Cheering on Jon Snow in Game Of Thrones is harder to picture.

On the other hand, by the time Chris Martin and the great and good of Westeros rocked up, Hassan and company needed light relief. They’d been going around in circles as they attempted to record a worthy follow-up to their astonishing 2013 debut album, Silence Yourself.

“Was it an easy to record to make?” says Hassan of the recently released Adore Life. “I don’t think there’s any such thing as an easy record. Entering into the process, we had a clear idea what we wanted to do.”

Still, such clarity took a little time to translate into a discernible musical direction. The band had already spent several weeks recording in London, where it had dawned that they weren’t making any progress. They needed a change of scenery. So they packed up and — well who wouldn’t? — flew to New York.

“It ended up quite a physical process — playing the songs was quite intense. You have to go into a project such as that in the right frame of mind. You need to stay focused.”

Adore Life is a concept LP of sorts: a dissection of the sticky, icky business of love from a strictly unsentimental perspective. There’s no fluffiness here, just endless scrutiny of what it means to commit yourself to another person and the joys and sorrows that can bring. In essence, Savages have created the musical version of a rom-com as directed by Ingmar Bergman. Obviously this is fantastic — if best approached with an open mind and a tolerance for the sonically abrasive.

“It’s about love, about life,” says Hassan, more chipper in person than Savage’s ascetic image might suggest. “There’s so much in there. We are trying to explore the idea of what love can be and what love is. Not necessarily in the happy, huggy sense. Musically, it is very full on — we will juxtapose the lyrics with a disturbing bass sound or dancing drum beats. There are lot of contradictions and contrasts. It can be quite unnerving, in some ways.”

Savages are a surprise success story. As songwriters, they do not take prisoners. Everything is full-on and frenetic. On stage, they are equally uncompromising, their performances often endurance tests as much as musical experiences. They have, for instance, campaigned hard against cameraphones at concerts, pleading with audiences to leave their devices in their pockets and let the music wash over them.

“I want to break this new trend of people raising their phones whenever there is a hardcore moment [on stage],” Beth said in 2013. “When you play a gig you are preaching to everyone. You want their full attention.”

Clearly they are not for the faint-hearted then. But, in an era when it’s completely acceptable to proclaim a fondness for Taylor Swift in polite company, this is why their existence is so important (can you imagine another outfit whose lead singer would declare her hatred of fans of the saccharine French romcom Amélie, as Savages’ Jehnny Beth did in 2015?).

“We haven’t had time to think about success — and I would question how one even defines success,” is Hassan’s considered opinion of their unlikely ascent.

“When our first record came out, we were constantly busy. So, in a strange way our perceived achievements have bypassed us. We are focused on the logistics of everything — the touring and all of that. It all goes into ensuring we put in a great performance.”

Savages came together in 2011, their first date a support slot for British Sea Power. Initially, the project was a collaboration between guitarist Gemma Thompson and singer Beth (real name Camille Berthomier), an ex-pat from Paris. Already busy with her folkier John & Jehn project, Beth got to talking with Thompson about doing something more expansive — an ambition they made good on with double a-side debut single ‘Flying to Berlin’ and ‘Husbands’.

The latter track, in particular, served as an irresistible calling card. Over a pugilistic bassline and Joy Division-esque riff, Beth alternatively screams and emotes to an on-off lover. At a moment in the culture when everything is post- modern and knowing, the track is powerfully guileless. Beth sounds angry and frustrated — her performance an unfiltered explosion of angst of the sort you just don’t hear any more. Materialising seemingly from nowhere, it was a stunning introduction. Savages, it was immediately apparent, were a group that mattered.

As anyone who has seen the band in concert will attest, they are incapable of holding back. They were one of the surprise packages of Electric Picnic 2013, their cathartic racket blowing away stragglers who had idly wandered into their tent. “It’s about an exchange of energy,” says Hassan. “The music is an extension of how we feel, and I think the audience picks up on that and, in return, gives back to us in a way.

“It is exhausting. The secret is to ensure you stay fit and healthy. You need to be on top if you are going to do it every night.”

The album Adore Life is out now.