Never one to let the small matter of a global pandemic slow her down, Savages‘ frontwoman Jehnny Beth just shared a dramatic DIY video for solo single Heroine.
Shot and edited by the singer and co-songwriter Johnny Hostile, the film features a masked Jehnny Beth going underground on the London tube.
Produced under COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the striking video is intercut with intimate childhood home movie footage.
“We couldn’t plan that the current worldwide circumstances would push us to make this video entirely ourselves at home,” Jehnny Beth explains.
“But sometimes working with constraints is the best fuel, and it fits perfectly with the positive message of self-belief and resilience of the song, pursuing childhood dreams and destiny.”
Jehnny Beth says she tweaked the song’s title after an intervention by The xx‘s Romy Madley Croft.
“When I think of this song, I think of Romy strangling my neck in the studio. She was trying to get me out of my shell lyrically, and there was so much resistance in me, she lost her patience. The song was originally called Heroism, but I wasn’t happy because it was too generic.”
Urged on by Hostile and producer Flood, she changed the song’s emphasis, putting herself at the centre.
“Sometimes we look around for role models and examples to follow, without realising that the answer can be hidden inside of us. I was afraid to be the Heroine of the song, but it took all the people around me to get me there.”
Built around the fierce drumming of fellow French musician Wendy Killmann (credited as Wendy Kill), of Rose Tiger, Heroine features typically declamatory and provocative lyrics.
“All I want is to never fall in love again/All I want is some good use of mu great body/All I want is to feel me come the way I love and only I can do it/All I want is, all I need is, to be a heroine.”
Heroine is the latest cut from Jehnny Beth’s much-anticipated forthcoming solo album To Love Is To Live.
Recorded in Los Angeles, London, and Paris, the album features contributions from producer Atticus Ross and guest turns from Madley Croft, Peaky Blinders‘ star Cillian Murphy, and IDLES’ Joe Talbot.
The album release is being put back till June 12 due to the virus outbreak and Jehnny’s desire to support local independent record stores by making sure the physical album comes out at the same time as the digital version.
In a busy summer for the artist, the following month will see the launch of Crimes Against Love Memories (C.A.L.M.), Jenny Beth’s first book – a collection of erotic short stories.
Illustrated by photography from Hostile, the book is out on July 9 through White Rabbit.
- For more about Jehnny Beth visit her on online on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
- For more on Savages visit their website here.
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