Gary Numan‘s new album is a cautionary tale about impending environmental disaster, political upheaval, and fighting to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Numan has never been one to shy away from bleak subjects (depression, dehumanization via technology, death, etc.), and Savage (Songs from a Broken World) is a powerful record that has him embracing these subjects once again with masterful skill.
“Ghost Nation” could be about Numan’s birth home (England) or his adopted one (the United States). “We live in a windswept hell,” he sings in the first lyric on the album while the synths and drums build to a powerful verse about an environmental catastrophe that wipes out most of humanity. “Bed of Thorns” starts off with quiet processed beats and almost Middle Eastern chants but slowly burns into a powerful track about wanting to be free of suffering. Numan’s daughter does guest vocals on “My Name Is Ruin” – a song about a powerful figure who brings about the catastrophe on Earth. The comparisons to Donald Trump are unavoidable, and Numan has admitted that the last U.S. presidential election provided some of the impetus for the album.
You’d think a song with a title like “The End of Things” would be at the beginning or end of such a concept album, but Numan puts it in the middle to signify (in my opinion) the turning of the tide in the battle for survival even when things seem bleakest. “And It All Began with You” simmers with unease before the bombastic “When the World Comes Apart” – an industrial powerhouse of a track with Blade Runner-like synths and foreboding bass and Human singing that he’s no hero or confessor.
I like how “Mercy” starts off with what sounds like fighter jets zooming by. Numan used to fly jets and aircraft in air shows for many years. “I should’ve told you, be careful what you wish for,” he sings on the menacing track that builds like some sort of monstrous war machine approaching on the horizon. Numan takes on one of his favorite touchy subjects, religion, on “What God Intended.” I heard an interview with him in which he expressed admiration for those who find incredible peace in religion, but he cannot abide religion being used for intolerance or to justify violence. The song is heavy on soaring synths and Numan’s near-cries to the heavens. The theme continues a bit on “Pray for the Pain You Serve.” Numan claims, “I will be here when the storm ends.” He’s been through a lot and come out a bit tougher each time
The album ends with “Broken,” a somber synthwave track that has more Middle Eastern touches and is quite cinematic. Why Numan isn’t being hired to score films is beyond me. It drifts along until an almost abrupt ending, perfect for an album about the potential end of the world.
Numan is firing on all cylinders right now, and his live act is one of the best tours currently out there. Get this and get to one of his shows if you can.
Keep your mind open.
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