Jason Roberts Quever has come into the relaxed beauty wave honestly as Papercuts, with a series of records including 2007’s Can’t Go Back (QRO review), 2009’s You Can Have What You Want (QRO review), and 2011’s Fading Parade (QRO review). He keeps that trend up with major label debut Life Among the Savages.
From opener “Still Knocking At the Door” to closer “Tourist”, Savages is a soft sway of an album, lying down in the dewdrop grass. There is, however, variation in outlook, from the sunnier “Afterlife Blues” to the sweet and sad title track to the sad-yet-brightening “New Body”. Still, it is more of a pastiche than a collection of tracks, together reflecting a spring morning.
It’s at least a few years now into the wave of successful relaxed beauty acts like Grizzly Bear (QRO live review) or Beach House (QRO live review – whose member Alex Scally contributed to “Life Among the Savages”), and while Quever doesn’t reinvent the sound, he is a strong party of it.
Papercuts – Life Among the Savages
