Indie-rock outfit Savoy releases their new single/music video, “Lonely Surfer,” the first track from their forthcoming seventh studio album.
“Lonely Surfer” is Savoy’s first release since 2018’s album, See The Beauty in Your Drab Hometown, and reflects lush washes of SoCal soft rock blended with shimmering dream-pop.
Talking about the song, vocalist Paul Waaktar-Savoy says the single describes “characters surfing through their daily lives and random jobs in office buildings somewhere down the road, usually 40 minutes away – traffic depending. It’s an overcast California, but you can reimagine it in color with ‘Lonely Surfer’s’ three-part harmonies and surf-rock overtones.”
Made up of Paul Waaktar-Savoy, his wife Lauren Savoy, and drummer Frode Unneland, Savoy has been on the circuit since the mid-’90s.
According to Paul, the upcoming album, which was recorded in LA, will include “a lot of pop songs but there are different directions – harder songs with a New York edge too. Every song is approached from its own point of view, a fair amount is upbeat, a few uplifting songs, a lot of different rhythms. What I think of as individual colors. Releasing singles first and then the album gives you a chance to crystallize it. Right now, I do know I’m looking for something shorter than the last album as a title – that had such a huge title!”
He goes on to add, “It’s a cool change for us. We’re excited and ready to roll – excited about our past and our future.”
Opening on creamy, jangly guitars exuding hints of surf-rock, “Lonely Surfer” flows into a throbbing, mid-tempo rhythm topped by Paul’s wistful vocals, highlighted by low-slung, glowing harmonies, imbuing the lyrics with haunting tones.
“Mountain ranges / Dusty heat / Town of angels / At your feet / Lonely surfer / On a bike / Whizzes by you / In the morning light.”
The video depicts shifting images shot in black and white and color, infusing the visuals with an ever-changing landscape encompassing a feeling at once warm and isolated.
With its delicious, breezy motion, “Lonely Surfer” offers shiny layers of glossy West Coast soft rock capped by cashmere vocals.