As good as many bands and artists can be, I have a problem finding musicians that are genuine and can acknowledge their own demons and contradictions. This comes from a recent conversation with a colleague about Savages, the British rock band. He was the one with them and I was the one half with them despite the enthusiastic review I made in this honourable page of their debut record Silence Yourself (QRO review). My problem with Savages since then it’s that they seemed unable to finish their songs properly, that they talk about appreciating silence and using it in music when their work is nothing like that, and that they display some visible influences they quickly deny.
DM Stith has nothing to do with them but I couldn’t stop thinking about what I just written above on Thursday, February 26th, when he visited the Paradiso in Amsterdam en route to the release of his second solo record.
With him there was the shy yet utterly interesting Anna B. Savage, a singer-songwriter like him with a punk, angry and urgent twist. With a guitar sound that echoes the electric Matt Elliott, she also has a flickering chant that clearly tells you about her internal struggle of making sense of things and situations. Somebody in the audience pointed out she seemed a rugged and punchier version of Scout Niblett and they have a point, but some twists of her own songs are a bit unpredictable and that makes clear she wants to get her own space in her genre, instead of just following he influences. Watch her close.
Then Savage accompanied DM Stith for the first part of the gig, playing loops and samplers. Stith has an unmistakeable side where he immerses himself in pure songwriter stuff. Proof of that is the timeless “Thanksgiving Moon”, where he displays not only his great guitar technique but also his great singing ability. Stith is able to combine real voice, falsetto, anger, sweetness, melancholy and sadness in a single tune. Put him in a big ballroom with hundreds of people and he’d be able to silence everybody.
But this next-door kind of chap is skilful enough to introduce elements that take his work beyond the basic song-writing spectre. Maybe mirroring what John Martyn did with One World in 1977, Stith makes you think of his parallel project, The Revival Hour (quirky sounds that add layers of textures, loop machines that add layers of voices and harmonies), using all the tools he has around to express his worries and give shape to his own demons, so he can fight them. New songs like “Andrea”, “Castlette” or “Up To The Letters” are mix of all qualities aforementioned.
Even though the stories told are his stories, he tells them like you’re a friend or a solid acquaintance. He’s funny, witty and leaves bullshit away, all with an inviting attitude to enjoy the evening. Always a good idea to leave whatever you’re doing and go watch him play.
Apart from new songs from him, expect a joint work between Stith and Anna B. Savage, some time this year (hopefully) and even some work from The Revival Hour, once Stith’s project mate, John Mark Lapham has finished the reunion tour with his former band, The Earlies.
