Ags Connolly recently remarked that you cannot open your front door without seeing "Savannah Gardner" and anyone following our reporting may feel the same. Then you look at Savannah's current gig guide and she is a phenomenon seemingly playing non stop really putting the hours in.
Our first encounter with her was at a Songwriters Round at Bush Hall and she has has never failed to impress on our many encounters since, Her album is due to land in September and the title track "Recovering Good Girl" will be the opening single. It is perhaps the first chance many will have had to listen to her lyrics in full and they are going to be in for a surprise as there is a whole new world to discover - and your esteem for Savannah seems likely to only be heading in one direction.
The single opens to a choir of "oohs" before a distorted Savannah sings the opening verse. which tells of Savannah trying to escape expectation and conformity. The sense of the need to escape is etched into each line - Savannah's live introductions to this song have always talked about bring ""afraid of upsetting other people, pleasing everyone else at the cost of my own happiness, and being what everyone else wanted me to be" - the lyrics to this song bring those feelings home in graphic detail.
"All I need is a little dough to get me out of this town
Dye my hair and change my clothes before they hunt me down
Catch the San Diego Amtrak on to Mexico
Leave this broken world behind and free my wild soul"
The second verse sees a return to normal vocals, that urge to break with conformity and the frustration attached to the hypocrisy about how views differ between whether it is a man or woman making the changes, shine through.
"All my life I pleased the Lord and I did the best I could
But when the devil calls to me I never felt so good
If selfish women go to hell while “boys just get to be boys”
Then throw me in the fiery depths I’ll make some goddamn noise"
The chorus is something of a curious mix of styles yet works perfectly, the first half rebel rousing, built for audiences to sing along to, there is an organ that makes it's presence felt, building up the overall sound. The second half takes on more of a soulful groove for the "Out and Out" parts, while the percussion neatly keeps things in order
"I’m an outlaw trailblazing my own way
Through the downpour bring on the thunder let it rain
I’m an out-and-out-and-out outlaw, a recovering good girl
Out-and-out-and-out outlaw, looking for my freedom"
It is the third verse where the darker side of breaking free starts to surface and it is painted here in quite visceral terms leaving not a lot to the imagination, It also sees a masterclass ( mistressclass?) in how to sell a line with the slight shifts in voice on that opening line..
"I’ve been the blonde I’ve been the bitch I’ve perked up his interest
Been terrified alone at night my keys between my fists
It’s a helter-skelter patriarchy but I’m a bandit with an army
I’ll break the glass and close the gap, take my power back"
With a good old fashioned guitar solo, the song eventually fades to just Savannah's acoustic guitar and her vocals once again distorted. Like all great songwriters Savannah has subliminally hooked us in with the singalong nature of the catchy chorus - but she has reeled us in only to lay a much deeper heavier tale on us. This is but the hors d'oeuvres in a succulent nine course tasting menu to be served up on the album, there is so much more to come.
Recovering Good Girl - The single - Available 26th July