The Knowing

Sean Nicholas Savage has worn many costumes throughout his career. The Montreal-based vocalist, songwriter, and producer made albums of nicely tailored indie smoothness that took cues from 80s R&B and soft rock radio hits before eventually moving his focus to penning and putting on multiple presentations of musical theater in the early 2020s. His solo output has reflected this refinement, with 2020s Life Is Crazy and 2022s Mac Demarco-produced Shine both choosing gentler, sophisticated arrangements that forewent drums in favor of either aching arrangements of piano and strings or stripped-down songs led by acoustic guitar. With The Knowing, Savage continues down the path hes been on for the last few albums before it, but occasionally circles back to his old ways for a moment of grinning nostalgia. The quiet storm synthesizers and knowingly cheesy melodies of opening track "Stranger Than Fiction" and the canned funk-pop of "Pink Bouquet" all harken back to some of Savages stronger work from a decade earlier. On albums like 2013s Other Life or 2014s Bermuda Waterfall, Savage excelled at communicating a complex emotional profile that intertwined yearning, loneliness, isolation, and a romanticism that was softly aware of its naivete. That same, specific character is what drives some of the best tracks on The Knowing, though its sometimes presented with more subtlety. "Insane 4 U" is a laid-back slow dancer modeled after late-80s plastic pop, but theres a pervasive, intentional desperation that underscores seemingly simplistic lyrics about the confusion of falling in love. The same is true of the peppy "I Love Everything About You," with overactive drum-machine programming and synthesized bass tones fit for the soundtrack of a summer blockbuster from 1988, but a sadness present just below the fun. The Knowing is split between these relative spikes in excitement and the kind of slow, thoughtful acoustic style of Shine. A duet with TOPS Marci on "Your Drug" is somewhere in between, with an instrumentation and approach that comes dangerously close to young country, but replaces the rural twang with a nervous electronic snare and melodramatic tales of love and uncertainty playing out in the streets of loud but lonely cities. A conspicuously relaxed reworking of Iggy Pops classic "Lust for Life" adds just enough playfulness to the mix, and reminds us that Savage is prone to cutting his lovelorn feelings with joy and the occasional dash of ridiculousness. The subdued nature of Savages albums directly preceding this one could come off at times as a little sleepy, or at the very least, absent of some of the urgency of his earlier material. The Knowing doesnt aim to turn up the volume or the energy, but instead exemplifies how Savage has gotten to the point where hes in complete control of his musical spark. These songs dont always move at a high velocity, but the impact is nevertheless always surprisingly strong. ~ Fred Thomas