By Phillipe Roberts
Layers of electronic percussion hold back waves of gently warping guitar as Thomas Savage, aka Vilde, creeps into the pulsating neon carnival of an arcade. He tests all the classics. Leaning into the turns on MotoGP, losing a prize to the loose grip of a claw machine, and staggering in place with Dance Dance Revolution, he drifts in solitude between the cabinets. Patterns of flashing lights slip in and out of phase with the echoes of a cold and dreamy lead guitar line, deepening the trance so completely that you hardly notice when Savage, prickling with energy, steps back into the night.
Directed by Elin Ghersinich with a little bit of inspiration from Lost In Translation, Savage’s hypnagogic video for “Grace” belies the tension that wore on him in creating the track. “I discovered the chord progression one day on a guitar, and played it repeatedly for about 40 minutes,” Savage explained, “Everything fell into place in my mind, the beat, the synths. I avoided beginning production on it, working on other songs instead, for fear I’d ruin it.”
But for all the anxiety of losing that initial spark, the inspired production choices and inclusion of submerged spoken word - a first take wonder for Savage in an attempt to preserve the track’s purity - add up to a truly disarming sonic daydream. Like all the best, it feels almost uncomfortably tangible while burning just out of reach.
The first single from an upcoming Summer 2020 LP, Savage’s fourth as Vilde in as many years, “Grace” is a nostalgia trip with teeth, biting back softly.