By the time Savages released their debut LPSilence Yourselfin mid-2013, they’d already reached a certain level of international renown.

The album combined musical aggression with lyrical explorations of gender relations, female liberation, non-conformity and authentic living in the contemporary world. The Englishwomen’s profile continued to expand upon the album’s release, but in spite of the widespread attention, they remained tenaciously committed to bold artistic expression.

“Originally I think we were doing it for ourselves, first and foremost – expressing things that we needed to express at that point that were essential to carry on,” says frontwoman Jehnny Beth. “This first record was more of a statement. It was a way to set the rules for ourselves – to find our own place, our own voice, establish ourselves. You come out of nowhere on your first record and you sort of have to be heard. The first step is the hardest, I think, to make sure you don’t take a step that someone else has taken or at least [do it] in your own terms.

“People don’t suspect artists to come out that way, or to start that way. There’s always this thing about, ‘You can do that once you’re established.’ Which is something that Savages never really accepted, because we really thought it was the opposite – you have to do that when you start, otherwise you’ll never do it, even when you’re established. There’s never a good time to set out your own rules when you’re a musician and you’re an artist, so you might as well start it as soon as possible so people can get used to it.”

Art of any kind – be it poetry, music, textile or video installations – can serve the utilitarian purpose of bringing people together or articulating feelings other expressions aren’t able to. From an internal perspective, meanwhile, creativity can be a coping mechanism for an artist, a way of escaping the pressures of society. In the case of Savages’ forthcoming second LP, Adore Life, it ticks both boxes. While there are a lot of intensely personal qualities to the record, it’s designed to be shared – the arrangements are very physical and the songs touch on several universal topics. Despite its communicable character, however, their ideas generally stem from a feeling within.

“It’s something that starts within ourselves, then between ourselves,” Beth says. “It’s almost like each song is a new chapter or is a new common knowledge we’re going to share together – a new rule, establishing a new reality, another stone in the big wall of reality that we’re building together. What life is, what we think of life, what judgements we make, what choices we make, what kind of people we are. And each song has a message. Each song is part of defining what kind of people we want to be, what kind of life we want to lead. So it starts with ourselves, defining our own space, and then of course there’s the audience, so after that it is shared and it almost doesn’t belong to you anymore and you move onto other things.

“But there is the idea of music and message being closely connected. Especially with the use of mantras, repetition, it’s a way to convince yourself of something, and it’s leading up to change. I think we’re using songs and words in a way as a healing process for things that need to be changed. I have the firm conviction that if you repeat some things enough times, then they become real. If you say ‘I love you’ to someone enough times – ‘I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you’ – it becomes real. With music it’s even more effective.”

Adore Life pays credence toBeth’s firm conviction. In the pseudo-title track ‘Adore’ she affirms her belief in life, while ‘The Answer’ is a similarly insistent declaration of love’s healing power. The record isn’t exactly happy listening – there are no brilliantly decorative exclamations of life’s beauty – but despite giving attention to the cruel side of romantic love and the oppressive impositions of society, it comes across as an affirmation of life.

“I think if I write it in a song, I have to live by it,” Beth says. “If I say, ‘Love is the answer,’ I have to remind myself that I wrote that. It’s a way for me to make progress quicker. I think in life sometimes you can have epiphanies and you can make discoveries about yourself, but to actually apply them is taking ages. I like to take shortcuts, sometimes a bit too much, but I like to take shortcuts with myself and with people. If I see there’s a change to be made, I will try to change it as soon as possible, even if it seems impossible. It can be quite intense. So music and writing words for Savages has been helping me in that way. I can’t shy away from these feelings – they’re out there.

“On this record I have also tried to not be hiding these feelings that are transitionary feelings, which are feelings of jealousy, abandon, fear. All these feelings are necessary transitions towards a better feeling, a greater feeling. But you need to go through all these by-products of love in order to love and to digest them. In a way, the record had to include these kinds of things in order to be true.”

[Savages photo by Colin Lane]

Adore Life by Savages isout Friday January 22 through Matador/Remote Control.

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