A. Savage – Several Songs About Fire

A. Savage is interviewed in the new issue of Loud And Quiet. Subscribe today for your copy

It’s been six years since Parquet Courts frontman Andrew Savage shared his debut solo album Thawing Dawn. With that release, the Texan songwriter and musician turned towards a much dustier country-tinged style than we’d heard from his main band. His deadpan delivery was more prominent than before and was a perfect companion to the pretty flourishes of the arrangements and storied songs. It created an intimacy across the record, the solitary image of Savage sitting on his bed for the artwork an apt visual representation. 

These qualities have carried over to Several Songs About Fire, which is even more engaging than its predecessor. Savage described his latest work as “a burning building, and these songs are things I’d leave behind to save myself.” The songs are densely (but deftly) penned, and his unhurried performance draws you closer in regardless of him sharing mundane details of a popcorn dinner or stark revelations about himself: “Everytime I try escaping I lose.”

There’s a timelessness embedded in the instrumentation, which mostly hears Savage intoning alongside a sweet acoustic guitar melody and soft percussion. When we do get a textured arrangement such as ‘Le Grand Balloon’, which has a suave air emanating from the Americana structure, you can’t help but imagine this featuring in a Tarantino film. Corresponding with Cate Le Bon during the making of the album, one of Several Songs About Fire’s greatest tonal aspect resides in Euan Hinshelwood sophisticated sax flourishes, primarily on ‘Thanksgiving Prayer’

Several Songs About Fire effectively melds Savage’s Parquet Courts and solo work together, and is a great addition to either side of his artistry.