Savage Mansion The Shakes
A driving, danceable slice of motorik synth-pop inspired by the Flying Burrito Brothers and Arthur Russell’s book Buddhist Bubblegum, ‘The Shakes’ is the title track from Glasgow-based slanted indie-rock five-piece Savage Mansion’s forthcoming new album. Released as part of Lost Map’s PostMap Club subscription service in the month of February and available now via digital services, it’s the latest taste of the band’s thrilling fourth album, which will be released on limited-edition 12” vinyl and digital services on February 16, 2024. Recorded live to tape with minimal overdubs at Analogue Catalogue Studios in Newry, Northern Ireland, The Shakes is Savage Mansion’s most exciting record yet – a set of 11 songs which better than ever capture the explosive live energy of a band whose best gig is always their next gig, rooted in a deep well of emotion, and the rigorously thought-through reasoning of writers thoroughly in love with their influences.
“It’s funny hearing where this got to,” says singer Craig Angus of ‘The Shakes’. “It began as a kinda Flying Burrito Brothers type thing, with very different verses. Something in the chorus suggested it could be rewritten as a more insistent, driven, borderline danceable thing. The weird guitar harmony at the end was an accident borne of me being a sloppy player.
Guitarist Andrew Macpherson adds: “I read a book about Arthur Russell called Buddhist Bubblegum that focuses on how his esoteric and Buddhist practices were an integral part of his songwriting process. The idea of having systems and chunks of ideas that you would repeatedly refer back to was a big influence on my approach on the album and I feel it strongly here.”
Formed as a vehicle for the effervescent, speak-sung, slice-of-life songs of guitarist and vocalist Craig Angus, Savage Mansion features long-standing members Andrew Macpherson (guitars), Jamie Dubber (bass) and Lewis Orr (drums and percussion) plus newest member Adam Forbes (keys). One of Lost Map’s most prolific bands, they released their debut album Revision Ballads on the label in 2019 (★★★★ – The Skinny), swiftly followed by 2020’s Weird Country (★★★★ – The Scotsman) and 2022’s Golden Mountain, Here I Come (★★★★ – The Scotsman). Savage Mansion have toured the UK, both as headliner and as support for artists including Pictish Trail and We Were Promised Jetpacks, and have played at festivals including Electric Fields, Estrella Galicia Monkey Week in Sevilla, Tenement Trail and Lost Map’s Howlin’ Fling.
Recorded live to tape with minimal overdubs at Analogue Catalogue – the Newry, Northern Ireland analogue studio of producer Julie McLarnon (Lankum, Junior Brother, The Vaselines, Brigid Mae Power, Barbarossa) – Savage Mansion’s new album The Shakes is full of raw and instinctual playing, happy accidents embraced and not glossed over. It’s the end product of months of patient and painstaking groundwork, Craig working closely with co-songwriter Andrew Macpherson to shape and re-shape ideas, until they represented the best version of the band we’ve heard yet. “As part of the writing of this album I would cycle out to Paisley and just listen to music with Andrew,” says Craig. “We would get a bit high and put a few records on. The man has the most amazing record collection.
“There was,” Craig reflects, “a conscious effort to take a bit more care writing this album. To preserve the immediacy of an exciting idea, but envelope it in something more sophisticated and reflective.”
Opener ‘Myths Persist’ orbits a rakish groove inspired by Sly and the Family Stone, and draws lyrics from among other unlikely places the Bible (“what’s it there for if not that?”). ‘In The Garden’ continues the spiritual tip with a song “about the forbidden fruit and why we’re compelled to take it”, and features more tightly interlocking guitars that fast become a signature of The Shakes. ‘There Goes My Habit’ is a meditation on ageing drawing inspiration from the poetry of Dave Berman and the esoteric pop of Arthur Russell. The album’s title track is one of the most unusual songs the band have written to date, an “insistent, driven, borderline danceable thing,” as Craig describes it, with shimmering synth lines that reveal a lot of the fresh input and energy new member Adam Forbes brought to the group. “Despite not considering himself a keys player,” says Andrew, “he had a lot of insight into parts and seemed really at home raiding Julie’s amazing collection of vintage synths, organs and keyboards.”
Adam’s playing further elevates another of The Shakes undisputed standouts ‘Total Colombia’ – originally a spiky garage rock number that was progressively re-written with input from the whole band until it sounded like “a confluence of ‘Lo Boob Oscillator’ by Stereolab, ‘Spiders/Kidsmoke’ by Wilco and the original ‘Total Columbia’ by Savage Mansion,” says Craig. Closer ‘The Second Life’ – “a sad song about a relationship that has to end even though neither party wants it to” – was very nearly just guitars and vocals, until an eleventh-hour decision was taken to drop the whole band in for a last loose and swaying jam before sundown. The perfect end to a record full of authenticity and feeling.
