Savannah Sgro: My Only Phobia Is…

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Savannah Sgro: Phobia EP Fear Human nature is a funny thing is it not. I mean over 7 Billion people all with their own unique stories and lives. Their own unique sets of successes & problems. All of us different, and yet the same. Even with human evolution breaking the wall down of “Gender Roles” ...

Savannah Sgro: Phobia EP

Fear

Human nature is a funny thing is it not. I mean over 7 Billion people all with their own unique stories and lives. Their own unique sets of successes & problems. All of us different, and yet the same. Even with human evolution breaking the wall down of “Gender Roles” between males and females, at our core we all have the same basic makeup. At the epicenter of us as humans we need food and water. We all have a need for progression as a species. Searching for acceptance and love. Experiencing the same basic emotions: anger, excitement, disgust, happiness, sadness, surprise, and FEAR. Another word for fear; Phobia.

Some people, including me, view Fear as our key emotion that drives the other. We Fear loneliness which drives us to love. Fear hunger and thirst which drives us to eat & drink. We fear sadness so we seek what makes us happy. I could go on for days. Fear is a key component to all of us. What sets us all apart is what we fear. What our own individual phobias are, and how much importance we place on each to address. In that manner of thinking, can you identify what your phobias are? Which ones you’ve placed as more important above others.

Phobia

You may be thinking “Why the super deep intro? Isn’t this a music magazine?“. Why yes, yes it is. That’s to say, I believe that music is a vocal representation of the human emotions and as we appreciate the art, we should to appreciate the emotions and experiences that the person had to go through on the other side. Savannah dives into her Phobias throughout the EP. This six song EP gives us a look into the highs and lows of love. Soft piano thoughout, muted drums, silky smooth synths & synth pads coupled with an album dynamic that puts you in a cloudy day at the window sill kind of mood.

Starting with the title track Phobia Sgro takes us through a journey of lost love, overthinking things, to dealing with mood swings, and feeling bitter towards “Happy” couples. Earlier on I pointed out we’re the same at our core on purpose. In other words foreshadowing for what I’m getting at. Phobia is an EP chock full of music that us as humans find relatable to us. Men and women alike. We all can listen to this EP and think back to, or on, a situation we’ve gone/going through.

Music

Phobia

This EP opens with Phobia that outlines a fear of loosing your significant other though haunting synths & soft emotional vocals. We’ve all been there before where we’re scared that this person we’ve invested so much time & love to is just going to grow out of us. That they’ll just wake up one day and think that you can’t fufill what it is they’re looking for anymore. Fear.

Overthinking

She follow up with Overthinking. Giving the listener pulsating, grainy bass w/ Euro Drums & snares on the hook that takes us from the dark piano ballad that is the title track to this more up-tempo song. A song that touches on thinking too deep into everything happening around her. Simply put, what is real and what is just being stuck in her head.

Love Me Like You Used To

After that, we’re given the song with one of the most powerful lines in the whole EP (in my opinion). Love Me Like You Used To walks us though what its like to go through the feeling of getting that feeling when you feel that spark fading. The distorted pianos coupled with the wide synth pads and vocal harmonies highlight the power behind the lyrics as Savannah says “Silence is loudest in the bedroom“. Oh, and is that a wood block I hear?! If so hell yeah! Well placed. Don’t hear that often.

Moody

Furthermore we’re given the literal moodiest of the records on the EP; Moody. Relationships are a two ways street. In the good and bad, it’s good and bad together. So in an EP about a relationship falling apart, Moody walks us through the things that the girl is doing that is putting a lot on the significant other in this song. Even with her “moodiness” their partner always tries to “bring [them] back around”. So to clarify, she’s saying when arguments happen for no reason, when she takes her stresses out on her partner, they’re trying to be the best person they can be to help her through it. As a boyfriend myself, I can say I try to be this fo =r my girlfriend as much as possible. When I know she has had a bad day, I don’t want to make it worse. I want to hear here out, take on all I can from her shoulders to help her feel better.

Stuck On You

As we get to the back end of the project, we’ve heard dark pianos, soft synths, and the use of a wood block. Stuck On You takes us in a bit of a different place. The song itself sticks to the cohesive theme of the project, talking about being hung up on the thought of someone, even though you know they were no good for you. Hmmmm, almost sounds like an emotion we’ve all experienced before. Fear. Although, we get this song in a different vein. The pulsating, echoing synths, clean”heartbeat” drums, and vocal harmonies/execution give me a late 90’s early 2000’s sound. Maybe that’s just me feeling nostalgic. There’s another emotion we all feel at some point.

Happy Anymore

In the same vein as the EP open up, we close on a dark, sad piano ballad Happy Anymore. You ever buy a car and then that’s the car you see everyone else driving. Same goes when you’re fresh out of a relationship. Now that your happiness is fading and you’re missing the connection of being with someone who wants to be with you, now that’s all you can notice. She touches on that very scenario. Turning off the radio, the TV, feeling bitter towards the couple holding hands walking down the street “I’m only bitter cause I really wish that that was us“.

She reflects on all that through this song. The EP opens with identifying her phobia of loosing her significant other, and after sitting and thinking she may just be overthinking things, admitting that the spark is fading, opening up about her own contributions to the relationship faltering in Moody, knowing that she’s stuck on this person even though they aren’t good for her, Happy Anymore is the conclusion in the progression of emotions and feelings that brings the EP full circle in admitting that she isn’t happy in the relationship anymore.

This EP may not be your summertime driving down PCH1 with the top down; but it was written, produced, engineered, and arranged beautifully. Giving the listener almost a story about two people and what goes into the complexities of love & the fear (or phobia) of loosing it. Take a listen for yourself below:

Ya Need to Know, Savannah Sgro

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