When love is right, it feels right. Anna B. Savage had no problem being single and didn’t imagine a future like this. But it was love, and it felt right.
“This warmth, this is how it should be,” sings Savage on the lead track of her album “You & I Are Earth.”
“It’s lovely but it’s also scary,” Savage said. “It’s been very surprising to me. I didn’t think I’d feel this way for someone ever. And I didn’t have any qualms about that. I really loved being single.”
Savage underwent a few major changes to create the experiences for this album. She moved to Ireland for grad school and decided she enjoyed it there. In “Donegal” she expresses her “vast lack of knowledge” on the subject of British Irish relations as she wonders if she’s found a home “forever.”
“There’s a very long history of colonization and cultural and literal genocide against the Irish people,” said Savage. “It’s not really taught about in English schools so you learn about them peripherally, but they’re not peripheral at all. It was sobering to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge about English and British history.” Still, she says, “I have been met with only loveliness and generosity.”
“Donegal” also contains a request from her mother: don’t fall in love while in Ireland.
“Obviously I failed horrifically,” said Savage, acknowledging she was much more unlikely to move back home. “I’m happily in love, but yes, my poor mom.”
Ireland is a world Savage prefers, and finding a true love just adds to that feeling of rightness.
“Here, my understanding of nature and my experiencing of it, that barrier is much more dissolved than it is in London,” said Savage. “In London I feel I need to go out of my way to find the natural world. Even though, obviously, we are part of the natural world. Having that closeness feels good. It makes much more sense for a human existing in a body.”
“Mo Cheol Thú” details some magnificent intimate moments between the couple, as does “I Reach For You In My Sleep.” It’s not just the clearly real details that make the relationship come alive. Savage’s shock at the whole thing is somehow more touching than anything else. When she reaches for her partner in her sleep, it’s an extraordinary feeling. “That’s never happened to me,” she sings. The unexpectedness and newness make it magical, as does the overwhelming feeling of satisfaction she’s giving off. The fact that he’s just as mystified about reaching back adds to the perfection.
As a touring musician and an independent person, Savage needed to find a slightly less conventional love. “The Rest of Our Lives” covers the fact that time apart can be just as valuable as time together when finding an ideal match.
“One of the important things for this relationship is that we are both very independent,” Savage said. “That merging, sometimes it can be an assumed nice thing and then actually it turns a bit bad. It’s been nice to feel connected and together but not always merged.”
“I love living apart sometimes/because it’s okay/there’s no rush/we’ve the rest of our lives,” she sings.
“I feel very secure, very calm,” said Savage. “Whether we miss each other or whether we’re annoyed that we’re getting under each other’s feet because we’re together for too long, it just feels manageable and calm.”
Savage explains that the title of her album relates to the way everything about her relationship feels natural and right. It also covers her adoration for her new home. She rejects the idea of fate or soulmates, but is open to this interpretation of perfection.
“It’s a connectedness, a rootedness, a connection with everything,” said Savage. “If I’m a tree in the earth, I will see many storms and probably most of them won’t knock me over. And even if I do get knocked over, I’d become a part of the earth in another way. My body would be feasted on and become a habitat for things in other ways.”
The album matches its title. Savage’s voice, often deep and low, matches well with earnest guitar picking and a few moments where high notes and backup singers reach toward the heavens. The warm, minimal nature of the sound is a great fit for the humbleness Savage displays in accepting love and happiness as such a pleasant surprise.
Though it isn’t heavily addressed on the album, Savage did note the importance of self love quite beautifully during our conversation.
“It’s something I’ve been struggling to do my whole life. I think if I hadn’t had worked as hard at it as I had, I wouldn’t have found the type of love that I have now,” said Savage. “Also, it’s just nice to be nice to yourself. Why wouldn’t you?”
Above are the songs that were aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including Donegal, which finds her quite at home in Ireland. Anna has requested that the full interview not air on YouTube, but the music is there for you to engage with. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://annabsavage.bandcamp.com/album/you-i-are-earth for more.
Country Pocket 