Not since John and Yoko Lennon has a husband & wife team combined their individual talents with such fortuitous abandon. The synergistic melancholia of Pal Waaktarr-Savoy and Lauren Savoy has given rise to a surprisingly fresh pop album whose sound evokes memories of Lennon's own work, along with that of more contemporary alternative bands like the Breeders, Nirvana, and Jane's Addiction. Pal Waaktaar, of the Norwegian group A-Ha, has spent much of the past few years learning to use a room full of recording gear housed in his Oslo studio. His wife, Lauren Savoy, an innovative director of music videos in her own right, has contributed visual and story ideas culled from a background of film and electronic media, resulting in a album that is both melodically rich and lyrically suggestive.
From the smoldering opening verse of "Daylight's Wasting" to the Lennonesque "Half and Hour's Worth," to the haunting title track, Savoy's pastiche of pain and pleasure pays tribute to such musical debts as the Beatles (_Rubber Soul), Peter Murphy (_Deep) and the Fixx. In a recent IRC chat session from Norway, Pal Waaktaar mentions his own pop influences ranging from Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins to Country Joe and the Fish and Glen Campbell.
Eschewing the studio polish of many pop stylists, Pal and Lauren Savoy maintain the rough edge typical of indie produced records, but with a sophistication born of materials and talents under tight creative control. Savoy is a musical force that conceals its garage band roots under a catchy veneer of pop melodies floating upon an emotional sea of trouble. Like a film noir musical of the Pixies, you can never be sure if that cry in the night you've just overheard is another call for help or salvation. Either way, you're hooked. And while you're waiting for answers to some of life's big mysteries, Savoy gives a reason to listen.
For those online hipsters inclined to hi-tech fandom, Savoy recently launched their own web site and are hands-on users of the Internet. If you'd like to learn more about the band, point your web browser to: http://www.sn.no/savoy/menu.htm And while you're downloading those cool web pages, don't forget to play their cd. Because yes, Mary IS coming, but she damn sure won't wait forever.
