Savarre is what happens when you bring a novelist, playwright, and songwriter together to create music. The result is something that borrows from all three worlds; the attention to detail, the flare for the dramatics, and the ability to tell a story that awakes something inside you.
Savarre is a band, but the band’s face, composer, and lead vocalist is Shannon Denise Evans. The band is based in New York, the birthplace of many great artists and genres. Savarre draws its sound from pop-rock icons, including Fleetwood Mac, St Vincent, and Kaleo. It also describes its sound as alternative rock with a mix of blues, soul, and medieval. Savarre has six songs in its discography: Scars, Art of the Bleed, Unbeautiful, Awake, Heaven, and Blood Under the Bridge.
Blood Under the Bridge is a rock song about the journey someone takes while trying to find the path that is meant for them in life. Blood under the bridge is a wordplay on the saying water under the bridge. According to Shannon, the vocalist, and lyricist, to become your most authentic self, you must let go of everything that isn’t you – it must be blood under the bridge. Given the poetic nature of it all, it is difficult to tell whether Shannon intended it to mean “the letting go of something heavier” or she just added it to give the song “dark” undertones.
The lyrics are enchanting, so much so that if you don’t pay attention, you will be left wondering what the song is about. Shannon begins by saying how life is from the cradle to the grave, with no time to be anything but your truest self.
The chorus then comes in, adding more lyrical depth to the song:
Everybody, everybody, everybody knows
Knife’s at the ready when you’re in a den of thieves
It’s easy, it’s easy, it’s easy, that’s how it goes
You’re at the mercy of the lies you believe.
The most interesting thing about Shannon’s writing style is her ability to take on different perspectives. Some parts of the song sound like self-doubt, self-criticism, and everything else that can hold you back are embodied by the person she is talking to. In one part, she sings, “I don’t want to know the why or how, stop telling lies that keep me bound,” while in another, she says, “Give me back the pieces that I own, your truth has highs and hellish lows.”
Vocally, once Shannon holds on to that note, she keeps you there and lets you experience everything all at once. She accentuates some of her words and creates an effect like she is gasping, adding emotion to the song. Her range is also quite admirable. She has mastered the art of scream-singing, doing it without it feeling painful on the ears.
At the end of the day, every perfect story we fabricate about who we are or what we are meant to be in life remains just that, a story. Savarre’s message on Blood Under the Bridge hits many nerves in a culture that constantly promotes picture-perfectness. Blood Under the Bridge is available on Savarre’s Spotify channel, and more information can be found on their Instagram page. Visit Savarre’s Website for more information.
