Single cover

“January Thaw”, the second single from Savoy’s new album See The Beauty In Your Drab Hometown, was released by Drabant Music on Friday 5 January. Listen to the song here.

VG has published a new interview with Paul and Lauren, along with the premiere of the “January Thaw” music video, directed by Jason Brandenberg.

They have also been interviewed by Dagsavisen (paywall), which mentions that Paul and Lauren will be promoting the Savoy album in different countries while on the road with a-ha.

The first reviews of the new album, which is released on 12 January, have already started to appear:

Dagbladet (5/6): “In many ways the album seems to build a bridge between a-ha’s synth-dominated universe and Paul’s roots in 60s and 70s classic pop.”

VG (4/6): “Paul Waaktaar’s best vocal performance ever, and definitely one of the most consistent set of songs the married couple has delivered since [Mary is Coming].”

The Electricity Club: “Overall this is a confident – and surprisingly seamless – collection; playful, adventurous, and boasting a production that benefits from retaining its rough edges.”

On Thursday Savoy will be playing their first concert in nearly ten years at Parkteatret in Oslo. Tickets are still available from ticketmaster.no. According to Electricity Club, they will be joined by two musicians who haven’t played with Savoy before; Linn Frøkedal on keyboards and Chris Holm on bass. Zoe Gnecco will also be there as a special guest.

It’s been a very long time since Paul last visited the Parkteatret venue, which previously used to be a cinema. “I haven’t been there since I watched a Tarzan-movie as a 7-year-old”, he tells Dagsavisen.

On the contrast between playing live with a-ha and Savoy, he says:

“It’s like two different beasts. I always get something from one of them that I don’t get from the other. But everything is more vulnerable with Savoy. There’s more of a nerve to it, without a parachute. a-ha is a bigger production, with more you can lean on.”

On Saturday at 14:00, Savoy will be signing copies of the new album at the Big Dipper record store in Oslo. It might be possible to get other items signed as well; “I’ll sign any album I’ve worked on…anything but blank checks”, Paul wrote in a comment on Instagram, alongside a preview of the gatefold vinyl edition.

Fans who aren’t able to be at the signing session on Saturday can pre-order the album from Big Dipper now and receive a signed copy in the mail (only inside Norway).

Album cover

The tracklist of the upcoming Savoy album See The Beauty In Your Drab Hometown (12/01/18) has now been posted on amazon.co.uk and other Amazon sites, along with 30-second samples of each song.

1. Night Watch
2. A Month Of Sundays
3. Falls Park
4. Manmade Lake
5. Bump
6. January Thaw
7. Shy Teens Suffering Silently
8. We’re The Same Way
9. Sunlit Byways
10. (My) Weathervane

As we can see, the album includes new Savoy-versions of the previously released “Manmade Lake” and “Weathervane”. The song Lauren wrote for her short film Scent of a Woman is now called “Bump”.

Besides the digital release, the album will be available on CD and as a gatefold vinyl.

Tonight, Ørjan Nilsson and Audun Vinger will be doing another conversation about Tårer fra en stein, this time held at the library in Tromsø. It will include the premiere of one of the songs on the album, “Falls Park”, exclusively for the audience.

New publicity photo by Jason Brandenberg

The new Savoy album is called See The Beauty In Your Drab Hometown and is scheduled for release on 12 January. First single “Night Watch” is coming on 24 November. See the single and album covers on the Savoy Facebook page.

Savoy have signed with Oslo-based Drabant Music for this album, the same record label that released the Waaktaar & Zoe album earlier this year.

In a new interview with Dagbladet today, Paul and Lauren reveal that Augie moved to California this summer to study, which means they now have more time to focus on the band.

“We have time to fill. We were “football parents” for 15 years, with lots to do all the time. Now there’s a void”, Paul says.

“I don’t want to be moping about an “empty nest”. It feels like a kick in the butt when your kid leaves home. Suddenly you have more capacity to do the things you want”, Lauren says.

According to Dagbladet there’s a clearer connection between Savoy and a-ha on the new album. Lauren says that’s partly because of the massive Moog-synth in their home studio:

“While Paul has a dark dimension as a composer, he is also good at making dance music. I call it “dark dance”, which I think is something new for us. Just like the album title we’re mixing ugliness with beauty, darkness with light.”

The interview also mentions the fact that since Savoy last released music, a new Brooklyn-based band with the same name has garnered some attention in the US:

“I couldn’t believe it. We take a little break, and these guys show up. But she’s the real Savoy”, Paul says with a laugh and nods towards his wife.

He admits that it’s annoying, but says there’s no use in suing them.

As for the album title See The Beauty In Your Drab Hometown, Paul says that it doesn’t refer to Oslo, New York or Bergen, but something more abstract:

“Maybe it’s Manglerud – he he. No, I think it’s more about the grass always being greener on the other side. The point is that you have to be actively looking for beauty. It’s easy to dismiss it – and sometimes you don’t even have the chance to go somewhere else.”

Savoy are now also on Twitter. You can follow the band here.