M
odern music rarely comes so fearlessly intimate or emotionally evocative as this gripping debut set from Londonbased singer-songwriter Anna B Savage. The daughter of two classical singers, her 2015 EP unleashed a richly expressive voice, earning tours with Father John Misty and Jenny Hval, but uncourted acclaim and the end of a debilitating relationship sent Savage into the mental tail-spin she confronts here. Uncoiling her mesmerising guitar confessionals against subtly hewed band or dreamlike electronic backdrops, Savage invokes those
birds to escape toxicity on A Common Tern. Elsewhere, she reveals, ‘I first came when I was 18’ on deeply felt orgasm chronicle Chelsea Hotel #3, offset by Tim Curry in lingerie punchline displaying a humour that underscores the album’s love and trauma.