Savera’s new EP, Strongest Boy Alive, is an electronic delight. I had been excited for the artist’s solo debut, having heard fragments of his work across multiple bodies of music – his collaborations with OAFF, primarily. Speaking about the release of his EP, Savera shares, “This EP came together in the quiet. Between long walks, surfing, and the kind of stillness that makes you feel everything more clearly. This isn’t a concept project, but it is written in stillness, reflection, the quiet mess of being human. These songs weren’t made to impress anyone. They were made while slowing down, while trying to make sense of things – love, mistakes, grief, healing. It’s not perfect. But it’s honest.”
The artist is currently based in Goa, and listening to the album gives you a sense of that spatiality. The sense of “stillness” that he does cultivate for himself on the 16 minute 25 second long record is something that you would come across in between beaches and EDM spaces in the state – neon lit and saline-sandy all at once. For most of the album, it almost feels like the artist is negotiating with pace – with his opening track being named Aahista.
Aahista – Savera.
The artist has two collaborations on the record — Nikita Gandhi, and Burrah – but his standalones deliver on a sonic level more than the duo performances, for the most part. One of my favorites on the tracklist is a wonderful number, Fizaa which has an almost acoustic start [not completely, of course, there are echoing synths in the background]. The song has a very crystalline quality for itself – where he utilizes a familiar build-up pattern but at a pace that you do not quite anticipate right from the start. The titular, Strongest Boy Alive is quite gorgeous too – where you have that construction that you are now acquainted with — the acoustic beginning, the dissembling into a sonic fog of sorts with the entry of the more electronic elements. The keys give it a wind-chime like sound – and it wrenches your heart a little. Most of Savera’s music places you in an indie film scene with an uncanny amount of wind sweeping your hair and maybe an epiphany or two, and that effect snowballs into a maximum of sorts on this one.
Strongest Boy Alive rests at that complementary juncture of dream-pop and electronica, and there are no “flaws” as such that you can pin down on any of the tracks. However, it is almost like something is missing — Deewaar , at some parts, sounds like a spiritual successor to Doobey, one of his early career hits along with OAFF – and given that both artists have parted for a brief moment to create their own solo music – it does feel like the artist is playing it too safe. All the tracks work, hit in the right places, sometimes even a little harder than you anticipate them to — but they sometimes meander into predictability. However, one must remember this is a debut solo project, and the singer-song-writer has shown enough prowess to assure every listener that he is a powerhouse, surely — he can find what is missing, and the fact that he is capable enough to push himself out of the soft haze of his comfort zone is indubitable. For now, we revel in this record, and we wait.
