Savings are a band that may have shot onto your radar in the last year. The Sam Wilmot-led quintet have earned north of 1 million streams on Spotify with debut EP Get Well Soon. Adding to the buzz has been a concerted string of West Coast tours and weekend runs.
The changing face of the scene has emboldened bands like Savings to explore their full range of influences, and the evolution from Get Well Soon to new collection How Do You Feel? is evidence of this. Whilst last year’s debut was an out and out emo/punk collection, the new album nods to everything from hip hop to shoegaze.
As an opener, “The Summer” is a fitting conduit. Emotive lyricism and heart-on-sleeve vocals are woven by fuzzy indie riffs. The Midwest emo foundations on which the band was conceived spar deftly with a seasonal pop-punk allure.
“How Do You Feel?” A simple question that can mean a great deal. The poignant emo anthem challenges listeners to look out for those around them. Here the guitars are brisk and that urgency feeds into a moving crescendo, with the chorus blaring “Can you feel it now?/ Can you feel it somewhere, somehow?”
As the album approaches the midway point, Savings truly remove the shackles. “Cry With You” delivers intricate, deftly timed indie pop. This is followed in quick order by “To Be Honest.” With hip-hop beats and underlying grunge tones, the lead single is ambitious in composition, but immediate in impact. Indeed, Savings have found a whole host of ways to write infectious and moreish alternative tracks.
Whilst Savings cover the usual suspects thematically, at no point does How Do You Feel? sound like it’s been done over and over. With five introspective but outwardly gripping anthems, the New Mexico up-and-comers have come of age with an EP that is cogently of the time.
Photo courtesy of Savings
