New Music Reviews: Fievel is Glauque, Ela Minus, Anna B Savage

It’s another eclectic week of new reviews with:

• the sophisticated jazz-pop of New York’s Fievel is Glauque
• the electropop of Colombia’s Ela Minus
• the lovestruck singer-songwriter Anna B Savage.

All three records are highly recommended. Read on for details.

Fievel is Glauque

Rong Weicknes

2024, 8/10
I’ve never ventured into the world of Zach Phillips before. The San Diego-born musician is prolific. They’ve released a dizzying myriad of music over projects like Blanche Blanche Blanche and Flaming Dragons of Middle Earth.

In Fievel is Glauque, Phillips collaborates with vocalist Ma Clément. The pair met when Phillips injured himself on a metal pole. Clément, a trained nurse, provided first aid. Officially a duo with Phillips on keyboards, their ambitious jazz-pop sound is supported by a myriad cast of musicians.

Rong Weicknes is Fievel is Glauque’s third album. There’s a unique tension between Phillips’ sophisticated music and Clément’s deadpan vocals. It’s hard to find comparison points – Fievel make joyful, sophisticated jazz-rock with drooping into sentimentality.

SHARPLES: Lyrically, do you guys feel like you get a lot of jokes in the music?

PHILLIPS: Hell yeah. If we didn’t, I wouldn’t like this, because the world has too much self-serious expression. Having levity be part of your orientation in making things leads to things that contain more. That’s what I’ve noticed, anyway. You need to play with language and let language play with you. And one way to gain access to that kind of state of mind is by willing yourself into a kind of psychedelia through humor.

Everything is pretty strange, and we’re not even talking about all the problems that perplex us and make us miserable sometimes. It seems like there’s always this fork in the road all the time, where if you take the path that involves levity, humor is where you get the whole picture. Seriousness blocks humor, but humor doesn’t block seriousness.

Interview Magazine

Rong Weicknes is so rich and homogenous that it’s sometimes difficult to pick out highlights. The strongest points are often the sophisticated arrangements, like the lightning-fast bass runs that power lead single ‘As Above So Below’. There are joyful and funky grooves behind songs like ‘Transparent’ and ‘Dark Dancing’.

There’s an awe-inspiring amount of musical dexterity on display on Rong Weicknes.

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Ela Minus

Día

2025, 9/10
I’ve already written a page for Colombian electronic music Ela Minus. You can read about her outstanding sophomore album here.

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Anna B Savage

You and I Are Earth

Anna B Savage was born in London, but is now based in Dublin. The vibrato in her rich voice is enjoyable – she’s the daughter of two classical singers. Her sound has traces of folk, blues, and jazz.

Her third album is named after the inscription on a 17th-century hand-painted plate. It was recovered from a London sewer and now resides in a museum. Savage interpreted the inscription as romantic, and the new album is a paean to her happy life with her partner in Ireland.

My first thought when I first saw a picture of the plate, and read the one-line caption underneath, was that it was the most romantic thing I’d ever read in my life.

Anna B Savage, The Line of Best Fit

It’s hard to resist an album that’s so personal and endearing. Here’s an excerpt from ‘Donegal’.

The day I arrived
I dove in to the sea
cnd pleaded “Donegal, please look after me”
I broke the surface, and the cold water shocked me
It brought me to, I said “I’ll look after you, too”

The day I left home my mother said to me
“Whatever you do, don’t fall in love,
please come back to me”
Well I’m sorry Mum, I’ve gone and done it
The moss and the views, and that lovely man too

Donegal, Anna B Savage

There are strong tunes too. There’s a lovely lilting melody to ‘Lighthouse’, accompanied by jazzy bass. Savage is great at injecting personality in her vocals without overwhelming the song, like on ‘I Reach For You In My Sleep’.

It’s hard not to be on Savage’s side when she celebrates new love on You and I Are Earth.

Read More

• 2025 albums on my to-do list
• New music reviews