During the pandemic, there has been an uptick in people contacting their long lost exes. It makes sense: many of us have been locked inside for months, and for some single people, the forced isolation has ushered in feelings of profound loneliness. With chances to meet new people few and far between, and Zoom dates even more awkward than the real thing, you can see how a rose-tinted ex might hold significant appeal right now.
Still, reaching out to former loves is rarely straight-forward, and Dublin-based singer-songwriter Anna B Savage has taken it to a whole new level. While getting in touch with an ex to suggest working on a film about your failed relationship might sound like a living hell to most people, that's precisely what Savage did after having a vivid dream about her first love, Jem Talbot.
Her new song, Baby Grand, is written about one particularly confusing night they shared while working on the film. It's a cathartic listen for anyone who's ever found themselves stuck in a mind-fuck of a romance, staring into the abyss and trying to make sense of what exactly is going on.
It is accompanied by a video made from scenes of the film, also called Baby Grand, which will be out later this year.
“Jem was my first love," says Savage of the song. "For three years we’ve been working on a film together about our past relationship. This song is written about a night Jem and I had, just after we’d started work on the film.
"This night was – like much of the filmmaking process – very confusing. Taut with unexpressed emotions, vulnerability, and miscommunication.
"Baby Grand (the film) and A Common Turn (album) are companion pieces: woven together in subject, inspiration and time. Jem was, for want of a better word, a muse for A Common Turn. Expressing ourselves through our different mediums (mine: music, his: film) became a way for our disciplines to talk, perhaps in place of us."
Savage's new album, A Common Turn, will be out on January 29 via City Slang, and is available for pre-order now. Pre-order bundles which include an eco pocket vibrator are also available on CD and coloured vinyl.
Check out the video for Baby Grand below.
