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Few people can boast the creation of 11 studio albums by the time they\u2019re 28.\u00a0 Quebec\u2019s own Sean Nicholas Savage<\/a>, who will\u00a0officially enter his late twenties at the end of the\u00a0month\u00a0(happy birthday Sean!), absolutely can.\u00a0 What\u2019s even more impressive than the sheer volume of Savage\u2019s output is that he\u2019s only been recording since 2008.\u00a0 As a prolific staple in the Montreal indie scene, Savage\u00a0has been represented\u00a0by\u00a0Arbutus Records<\/a>\u00a0(home to Grimes<\/a>, Doldrums<\/a>, and Blue Hawaii<\/a>) for the last five years, and hasn\u2019t wasted a moment since his initial signing\u00a0with the label.\u00a0 Following 2013\u2019s Other Life <\/em>LP, Savage releases\u00a0Bermuda Waterfall <\/em>on May 13th, and I suspect he\u2019s already churning out new ballads for the next record.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmpire\u201d is the vulnerable core of Bermuda Waterfall<\/em>.\u00a0 A sorrowful track that bridges contemporary minimalism and eighties sentimentality, it is the kind of song that multiplies its infectiousness exponentially with each play.\u00a0 Commencing with the twinkling chirp of keys, a patient but weighty bass line, and an unobtrusive snare beat, Sean\u2019s clean voice chimes in with the darkly romantic phrase “We held each other in the empire of hate” <\/em>that quickly comes to characterize the narrative.<\/p>\n

His vocal style is one that is so familiar it\u2019s impossible to recognize where you\u2019ve heard its doppelgangers.\u00a0 On the higher end of the audible spectrum, it glides between trembling, shrill, and soft with genuine ease.\u00a0 This is a sensitive singing niche-one that could be butchered with cheesiness were it attempted by another artist.\u00a0 That isn\u2019t to say\u00a0schmaltzy\u00a0music hasn\u2019t influenced the song; easy listening and corporate muzak rush to the mind\u2019s forefront when hearing \u201cEmpire\u201d for the first time.\u00a0 It certainly has its roots in mid-80\u2019s sap rock, but it subdues those elements to the most tasteful degree as opposed to satirizing them.\u00a0 What could have been rendered ironic is instead painfully sincere, a quality that marks all of Savage\u2019s music.\u00a0 He writes as if meekly exposing a raw wound to a wolf pack, wincing and hoping for the best.<\/p>\n

Isolation is another recurring feature in the annals of the artist\u2019s recording history, and there is no shortage of it on this track. It is just too perfect that as he sings the line “Kissing myself, holding myself \/ As if you were, somebody else”<\/em> he’s harmonizing with himself.\u00a0 This kind of lyrical\/formal continuity reflects the skill set of someone who\u2019s been writing music as many years as Savage has been alive.\u00a0 Likewise the thematic desolation of his words compliments the sparseness of the song\u2019s composition beautifully.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Savage is the kind of songwriter who has the ability to sate his listener while still inspiring a gluttonous hunger for more – kind of like watching butter settle into hot toast and spreading on three layers more, despite having plenty in the first place.\u00a0 Given the combination of his talent, youth, and compulsive need to create, I expect to be slathering on much more of Sean Nicholas Savage in the near future.<\/p>\n

Check out “Empire” below:<\/p>\n