The world is not quite the same as it was when Alexandra Savior released her sophomore album, The Archer, on January 10, via Danger Mouse's 30th Century Records.
When her European tour was postponed for a year, "Portland's mystery girl (VICE)" immediately responded by selling her one-of-a-kind artwork for charity as an initial response to the pandemic. Today, as a further response, she shares her acoustic cover of "But You," along with a video. Proceeds will go to The Loveland Foundation. On choosing this particular foundation Savior says, " they help young women of color retrieve free therapy and mental health Counseling. It’s incredibly powerful and necessary work that they do and I’m honored to be able to support in some small way"
The album version of “But You” currently has more than 877K streams on Spotify alone, it’s one of Alexandra Savior’s most popular songs. For this acoustic version, she reworked the song on guitar with Mel Guerison, who is the violinist and producer. The result is this sparse, disconsolate sounding rendition. She made the accompanying video for this version using Super8 footage of her grandfather’s family from the 60s – befitting the eerie poignance of the song.
Billboard, who exclusively premiered her album, The Archer, says she is "more empowered and focused than she was before," and also that "she acknowledges there's an intentional #MeToo aspect to many of the new songs... Savior also struggled through an abusive personal relationship that she says many of The Archer's songs are about."
In her own words, Savior explains, saying:
"I think I went through a period of time where I was very innocent and I was being taken advantage of by a lot of manipulative forces in my life... I was very young and naive when I first left home and came into the music industry. I think I was prey for a lot of those sort of characters to come in and control what I was doing. I never felt I was being seen for who I was; I was being seen for what they could push me into and what was most sellable.
It was only when I was rejected by those forces when I began to have a voice... I wrote from a place of being rejected and confused, insecure and angry and depressed. But I was writing about me, and I think creatively there was a weight lifted off of me and I feel like so much has opened up to me. I think I have a lot less anxiety in general now."
The Archer, which was produced by Sam Cohen, often known as a fan of collaboration, most recently teaming up with Kevin Morby for his Oh My God album. On working with Savior, Cohen says, "It’s really a joy to work with someone who’s got such a strong sense of melody and also such a strong sense of what she wants stylistically.”
Ladygunn says, "Savior has a unique voice that veers away from the cookie cutter pop that is dominating the mainstream right now." The new album showcases that standout vocality Savior is now known for, and also weaves a bittersweet story together with clever wordplay and broodingly beautiful layers of melody.
Savior's debut record, Belladonna of Sadness, was written in collaboration with Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys and NME says, "Savior continues to build on that bold arrival and is becoming a star in her own right." Her new album shows that not only does her voice stand alone, but that her musicality stands alone, too.
Savior recently announced her new 2020 European tour dates, which will bring her mesmerizing live show to Germany, Holland, Ireland, UK, Belgium, France, Turkey and Spain. Fans can hear the "striking and smoky vocals [that] belong solely to Savior (NME)" and these new picturesque melodies live. Tickets are on sale now. For more information, head to Alexandra Savior's website: alexandrasavior.com.
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