in|FLUX

For my long review, I chose the album “in|FLUX” by Anna B Savage. Anna B Savage is a London-based singer-songwriter. This is a super cool dark pop album with haunting vibes and electronic and acoustic components. There are also phenomenal production moments, vocals, deep lyrics, and an awesome brass section. This album is like nothing I’ve ever heard before but I can see the resemblance to Weyes Blood’s deep and emotional vocal stylings, Phoebe Bridgers's haunting production, and she has the same British ethereal vibe of Florence and The Machine. Savage exposes herself in a raw and vulnerable way that intrigues and disturbs her audience perfectly. Somewhat of a theatrical journey, Savage tells a story through her music that leaves us feeling unsettled and emotional.

The album begins with the track “The Ghost”, appropriate to the title this track has a dreamy dark vibe. This song begins with a deep guttural synth and a little monolog. The hollow beat, brass, and grand piano come in to create a phenomenal sonic experience. She begins the chorus timidly by begging, “Stop haunting me, please”, and repeats this in the chorus until it feels confident. This song builds up beautifully and is just so stunning, emotional, careful, and unsettling in a magical way.

Next is the track, “I Can Hear The Birds Now”. This softer song reminds me a lot of Pheobe Bridger’s “Garden Song” with hollow Travis picking, ghostly synths, and vivid imagery. The brass in this song stands out to me and the timbres of her voice, shimmery harmonies, and brass complaint each other perfectly

“Pavlov’s Dog” is a more upbeat track with a fun beat, dogs panting, and cool synths. This track is so unique, catchy, and just cool. I love how she mixes acoustic components with unique electronic instruments. She tells the story of lost love perfectly and this song is placed perfectly in the song lineup.

Next, is my favorite track from the album “Crown Shyness”. This track has a low synth-keeping time, beautiful piano moments, and more phenomenal brass moments. This song is catchy, fun, dark, sad, and just amazing. I love her production, the animal sounds she added, and the speaking parts in this track

“Say My Name” is another acoustic guitar-driven song with a phenomenal build-up. I love the way she tells the story of grieving love and you can feel her pain in this track. “Touch Me” is a pretty similar track with soft fingerpicking and imagery. This is a beautiful song and even though the instrumentation is similar she is hauntingly vulnerable in this track and it feels like her surrender. “Hungry” is also an acoustic guitar-driven track. I love this song and the way she reflects on herself in it. A fun beat comes in and just takes this song to another level of awesomeness. I could go on and on because every track is just phenomenal and I’m obsessed with all of them.

The title track, “in|FLUX”, continues with her unique instrumentation. She begins with very minimalistic instrumentation until a Depeche Mode-type beat comes in and changes the vibe completely. It works so well and is so haunting. This track feels hysterical and makes a perfect track for the middle of the album.

“Feet of Clay” is another unique track with more of a soul influence. It’s just a cool, storytelling, catchy song, that's fun but also heartbreaking. Her whole album feels like a reflection of the many emotions heartbreak can bring.

The last track, “The Orange” is an inanimate acoustic reflection on her as a lover. This song is honest, beautiful, and all the timbres come together to create a beautiful sonic rollercoaster.

I don’t know how she manages to create unique banger after banger, and I’m so surprised she isn’t on the Caroline Polacheck and Florence and The Machine level yet, because she is creating phenomenal art that never feels watered down or boring. Each song is unique, but they seamlessly fit into the album. Savage explores feelings and reflects on her relationships in a way that feels therapeutic but also keeps you coming back to discover new layers of this sonically complicated album.