Synecdoche Montauk is a London-based indie folk and experimental pop project led by Moscow, Russia-born Savva Rozanov. Savva has dubbed his sound “Pierrot-core” named for the stock seventeenth century pantomime character. His new album is called Acume.
By Graeme Smith
Feature photo by Random Drama
Acume opens with the single KG, a track I featured early last month and acted as an introduction to Savva’s sound for us. I remember being instantly taken with the song, its composition and its story, and recall looking forward to hearing the whole album on which it features.
It doesn’t disappoint. After the haunting KG sets the tone, we get Brawl. There’s a separation between Savva and his lyrical protagonist, and he uses his songs to bring the fictional character to life. Brawl depicts an after-school fight and is suitably throbbing with violence, but also an unexpected sadness. Though written before the current Russian aggression in Ukraine, it feels prescient of the conflict.
Invisible Weight places the protagonist in modern day, suffering from the existential. There’s a soulful depth to it and hints of brighter pop. It’s a highlight. Forest of Hands speaks of his childhood bullying through a melancholic and acoustic arrangement. Siberian Shavasana, a nod to Russian life and the “corpse pose” of yoga, is a heady mix of the ethereal and the lively. It’s another highlight.
Music for Heavenly Lada Samara gives us distorted vaudevillian piano juxtaposed with driving percussive rhythms. Bitch Face closes the album on a hopeful note. We get hints of soul and R&B in its early composition before it build with strings and Savva’s captivating vocals. An electronic drop brings with it bliss before the track further develops with sax. It’s another highlight of an album that’s full of them.
Acume is named from a combination of the Italian word acumen (meaning ‘discernment’) and the Romanian word acum (meaning ‘now’). Another word for it is mind-blowing. With this album, Synecdoche Montauk are sharing their unique and accomplished sound to a wider audience and the fact that it’s sung in Russian takes nothing away from its narrative and emotion. For me it has to be in the running for album of the year.
You can listen to the whole of Acume below.
