What I'm listening to: Savoir Adore
"Savoir adore" is French for "to know love." A lofty moniker, perhaps, for an American band-unless that band is Savoir Adore, a Brooklyn duo and sometimes quintet who craft melodious and playful tunes that are Romantic with a capital "R".
What I’m listening to: Savoir Adore
Kate Bracaglia, Philly.com Music Blogger
"Savoir adore" is French for “to know love.” A lofty moniker, perhaps, for an American band—unless that band is Savoir Adore, a Brooklyn duo and sometimes quintet who craft melodious and playful tunes that are Romantic with a capital “R”.
“‘To know love’ is basically the closest thing to real magic humans have,” says one-half original duo Paul Hammer to Groupee.
Love and magic, in general, are two important themes in Savoir Adore’s work—and not in a weird, faerie rock type of way. Rather, the band, who cites their influences on Myspace as “imagination” are first and foremost songwriters, whose infectiously poppy rock singles are the perfect vehicle for storytelling.
Formed in 2006 when Hammer and Deirdre Muro (friends from NYU) decided to spend the weekend in Hammer’s studio and see what happens, the band was (to quote Myspace again) “an accident,” but one that evolved gloriously, beginning in November 2006 with the (very) limited release of The Adventures of Mr. Pumpernickel and the Girl with Animals in her Throat, a 12-song EP that tells the tragic story of a professor and the student that loved him.
From there, things took off slowly…the pair started playing shows, signed with Cantora Records (MGMT, Bear Hands), played more, wrote some songs…and in September 2009 dropped In the Wooded Forest, a lush, sweeping record of cheery indie pop numbers with bewitching melodies, boy/girl vocals and vivid images and characters…like Sarah, who wonders if mankind can learn from war, and Dr. Rousseau, who wakes in the middle of the night to find he’s discovered the secret to life after death.
“We talk like machines” and “Bodies” are standout tracks, with synth-y dance beats with warm vocals, and sparse instrumentation with a shuffle beat, respectively, while album closer “The garden” is serene and beautiful. This is feel-good, free-wheeling music, music to get lost in, and music to listen to when you’re down (yes, all three!) Stream the entire album for free at Last.fm and frolic in their magical world. To listen is to know love!
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Savoir Adore // "MERP" $99 Video from Cantora Records on Vimeo.
