As if Impersonator wasn’t packed with enough cutting and heartbreaking material to last the year, Majical Cloudz unleashed a new, non-album cut onto the Internet last month. “Savage” was conceived at the same time as the tracks that eventually made up Impersonator, and it shows — like all of the duo’s work, “Savage” is elementally simple. But its direct approach is, as always, overwhelming: for every soul-staring syllable Devon Welsh utters, atmosphere master Matt Otto has an equally discontent, reverberated-synth response.
In the song’s tacked-on explanation, Welsh elucidated that the details surrounding “Savage” are less important than what we, as listeners, will get out of it. Yet “Savage” definitely tells more of a straightforward story than anything the duo has released; hell, there are probably more specfics packed into “Savage” than on Impersonator in its entirety. And while this may make the track feel less intimate, it certainly makes it feel more real.
Regardless, “Savage” is the most harrowing victory lap I’ve ever witnessed. But I’ll be damned if Majical Cloudz hasn’t earned it.