Les Savy Fav Share New Single & Video, “World Got Great”

Les Savy Fav returns today to share their next single from upcoming LP OUI, LSF, due out May 10th. “World Got Great” is a guitar-driven anthem, that comes paired with a delightfully animated music video. The track is sing-along-inducing, and the video, directed by Emmy Award-winning Jimbo Matison, leaves you smiling because who but Les Savy Fav would defeat world-ending monsters with tickle fights and flower power?

Matison remarks:

“Everything is so computer generated now, nothing seems sincere. I wanted raw materials and simple ideas to do the talking. We also wanted to have a good time while making this, so why not get back to 1st-grader basics? Can we make a video with cardboard, crayons, and a phone? Hell yeah, we can.

“Did we buy a $4.99 bubble machine at the dollar store? Yeah, it lasted for about 30 minutes which was just enough time to shoot what was needed. That thing pumped mad bubbles while it worked. Can you see cat hair on the closeups? Absolutely. We are a little embarrassed by that, but hey, Skipper is a rad cat and we love him. The finale may look familiar as Fruity Pebbles were used as the colour scheme. It’s a vibrant-coloured cardboard explosion. Does this video look ‘out of the box?’ No. Is it boring? No. Mission accomplished.”

It’s impossible to talk about Les Savy Fav without acknowledging that it’s been over ten years since the guys released 2010’s Root for Ruin. But it’s not like they had a messy breakup or quit to become bankers. They just had a lot of living to do.

Frontman Tim Harrington says:

“When we finished our last record, there was a sense that if we were going to do more, we wanted to do something more ambitious. I think it took us a while to even get in a space where that was possible.”

Remember, these five men — Harrington, Seth Jabour, Syd Butler, Harrison Haynes, Andrew Reuland — have been friends and collaborators since 1995, when they attended Rhode Island School of Design. It takes a beat to shake old habits.

In the interim, the band has been busy growing their families, taking and losing jobs, and living through the various ecstatic and hideous aspects of growing older. Harrington wrote and illustrated children’s books (like 2015’s Noes to Toes You are Yummy), ran out of money, built his attic studio, wrestled with mental health issues, and got a job-job as a creative director. Butler continued to run his label, Frenchkiss (which released most of the band’s albums, including this one), and, along with Jabour, honed his writing skills as a member of Seth Meyers’ 8G band. Harrison left his career teaching to focus on fine art, while Reuland built a reputation as a film/commercial editor and writer on Adult Swim’s cult show Ballmastrz: 9009.

Les Savy Fav ‘OUI, LSF’ album artwork

Over the years, the band has continued to perform, always on their own terms, but after a stint at Primavera in 2022, they caught the proverbial songwriting bug once more, sharing demos, jamming in Harrington’s attic, and recording through the heap of DIY and esoteric gear Harrington collected over the last decade. At first, there was no intention of recording an album; they were playing music, not writing it.

Butler states:

“The last record was a lot about holding on. OUI, LSF is the sound of release — no map, no preconceptions, no self-righteous certainty. There’s nothing like hitting 50 to slap the cocksure vanity off your face.”

That’s not to say it was easy. The challenge of learning a new way to write and work together took a lot of letting go. Among the artwork that plasters the attic studio is a piece by Harrington that reads, “Can’t do it how you want. Don’t want to do it how you can,” spiralling into a bloodshot eye.

In addition to their slew of upcoming shows in Europe, Les Savy Fav has announced a handful of dates across the U.S. in the early summer. They are also slated to play Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago on July 21st. Find more information and tickets here.

Tour Dates:

05/16 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
05/24 – Dublin, IRE – Whelans
05/25 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
05/26 – South Derbyshire, UK – Bearded Theory
05/28 – Barcelona, ESP – Primavera Sound
06/28 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
06/29 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
06/30 – Somerville, MA – Arts at the Armory
07/12 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
07/13 – Seattle, WA – Day in Day Out
07/21 – Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
08/03 – Katowice, PL – OFF Festival

OUI, LSF Track Listing:

1. Guzzle Blood
2. Limo Scene
3. Void Moon
4. Mischief Night
5. What We Don’t Don’t Want
6. Legendary Tippers
7. Dawn Patrol
8. Somebody Needs A Hug
9. Racing Bees
10. Don’t Mind Me
11. Oi! Division
12. Barbs
13. Nihilists
14. World Got Great