Stereo Six: Savings Survey Some of Their Favourite Records

If you’re wondering how you should feel about the current state of emo music, we can tell you that you should feel good thanks to acts like Savings. The quartet released their new EP How Do You Feel? earlier this month. The New Mexico group demonstrates great musical ability and adaptability in this five-song release. There’s lots of classic emo charm along with more modern pop sensibilities to go around for everyone. Like any decent emo act, the band approaches several relatable issues with candour and honesty, including relationships, maturation, and mental health. The album’s title track has become an anthem for mental health awareness.

It’s all taken shape quite quickly for Savings. It all started originally as the solo project of lead singer Sam Wilmot. It was only in the last couple of years that Wilmot began to expand Savings into a band. With the release of their 2023 debut EP Get Well Soon, things began to take off, and after only one year, they had racked up over one million streams. How Do You Feel? is a little more musically diverse than its predecessor. It features more of a diversity of influences, like shoegaze, hip-hop, and pop.

To learn more about their musical background, Savings join us today for a Stereo Six to run down six of their most influential albums.

1. Movements – Ruckus (2023, Fearless Records)

“As a band, we’ve all always loved Movements entire discography. From playing ‘Daylily’ in the van on repeat to heading out to their shows as a band to yell our favourite songs in the pit. When Ruckus dropped we all felt extremely inspired to push the boundaries of what we thought ‘our sound’ was. Specifically hearing songs like ‘Cherry Thrill’ or ‘Heaven Sent’ let us know we could try new things and was a huge turning point in us pushing our sonic arsenal even further.”

2. Slowly Slowly – Daisy Chain (2022, Epitaph Records)

“We can’t say enough good things about this band. Their melodies, lyrics and overall songwriting are top tier in our opinion. When we were writing this last EP we pulled a lot of influence from songs like ‘Blueprint’ or ‘Medicine.’ This album specifically pushed us to go a bit deeper with our lyrics and be a little less literal and face value with what we were writing.”

Artwork for the albums Savings lists in this Stereo Six

3. Citizen – Calling The Dogs (2023, Run for Cover Records)

“This was another album that we felt pushed the creative envelope for an already well-known band. When we thought we had Citizen figured out and what kind of music to expect from them. They dropped this album and it changed everything for us and what it meant to be an ‘emo band.’ It allowed us to see how mixing and pulling different influences from completely separate genres could elevate our sound overall. In specific, our song ‘The Summer’ was written with a lot of influence pulled from this album.”

4. Trophy Eyes – Suicide and Sunshine (2023, Hopeless Records)

“Not to sound like a broken record. But again this was another band that to us almost melded their old sound with their new sound. And did it extremely well. From ‘Blue Eyed Boy’ to ‘Kill,’ this album’s underlying synthesizers and drum patterns inspired us to once again push our creative boundaries and almost lift them entirely. You can see the direct influence on songs like ‘The Summer’ and ‘To Be Honest.’”

5. Arm’s Length – Never Before Seen, Never Again Found (2022, Self-Release)

“We had the pleasure of meeting these guys back in 2023. We can wholeheartedly say that they are some of the nicest guys we’ve met. The lyrical composition and structures on this record changed the way we write music as a whole. This album was very much so reminiscent of The Wonder Years for us (another band we love dearly), pushing us to dig deeper into subject matter past the surface level. The last song on our EP ‘Temporary’ even has a reference to this band as a whole. It’s almost a nod to this album and how it’s affected us as songwriters.”

Savings ‘How Do You Feel?’ EP album artwork

6. Nightly – Wear Your Heart Out (2023, Self-Release)

“In Savings, we all listen to an array of genres and definitely don’t just stick to one or two. Nightly does an amazing job of creating a soundscape and filling it so well. We wanted to replicate that feeling on our record. You can see the direct correlation in songs like ‘Cry With You’ or ‘Afterglow.’ On top of their soundscape capabilities, again their melodies and ability to make the mundane feel anything but is insane/it’s definitely something we try to replicate our overall writing.”