Pop songs about masturbation are almost a genre in their own right. Although they generally arrive on a gentle ripple of ambiguity. Newly signed to City Slang, Anna B Savage's first single for the label, 'Chelsea Hotel #3', leaves no doubt.
"'Wank more' was my 2016 new year's resolution", she says. "It was part of my need to battle all the internalised bullshit I had ingested about women. I've spent the last few years actively unlearning things I spent my first twenty years passively being fed. Like how women are sexualised, but never allowed to be sexual, they are the object - sometimes even an object".
"It took me until 21 to start masturbating, even longer to realise that sex was also for me - groundbreaking, I know - and that I had agency and could and should ask for things. It's wildly frustrating and sad. Out of these thoughts came 'Chelsea Hotel #3'".
Referencing Leonard Cohen's 'Chelsea Hotel #2' in its opening lines - just in case you were wondering - the track uses sparse instrumentation, with Savage weaving a story that seems to borrow from trad folk in structure, if not content. It's gripping, enlightening and finishes with a satisfying (pun probably intended) pay-off.
"The song is a groan of boredom for the role of passive, mute, muse women, and a scream for female autonomy and pleasure", she concludes.
Her first release since 2015's excellent duo of EPs - ie 'EP' and 'Live At Café Oto' - 'Chelsea Hotel #3' is an exciting and confident return. Savage will be supporting Destroyer on tour in the UK in May, with more music from her William Doyle-produced debut album also on the way.
Watch the video for 'Chelsea Hotel #3' here:
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