New Band of the Week: SAVE US

Predominantly UK-based band SAVE US have honed a dramatic alternative rock meets metal sound that fuses crushing riffs and moments of delicious tenderness and they describe as “emotive, ambient and tense.” The quartet take us on a journey of the human mind with their emotionally charged hooks and huge atmospheres – making this the perfect way to mark 1,500 GigRadar blogs!

SAVE US began when guitarist Chris Biddiscombe and drummer Benji Havercroft, who live in the southwest of the UK, began putting together ideas for a new project. They went in search of the right vocalist and found California-based vocalist Miguel Owls online through his cover videos. Despite the obvious distance challenges, modern technology made the process of creating new music together seamless. They added bassist Aidan Puncy to complete the lineup and then, in January, started flying through ideas and creating music together.

And on the sound they’ve honed since, they tell us: “Our sound is a hybrid mix of modern rock/metal centred around building atmosphere, being fans of pop music this has crept its way into the sound too. We love to use synths, creating our own production.”

Our first taste of this was SAVE US’ stunning debut single New Light, which was released at the start of last month. It dives straight into a gorgeously heavy bouncy opening riff supported by piercing synths. That drops into Miguel’s laid-back vocals and mellow instrumentals, before exploding into a heavy chorus led by more intense vocals “Break away from feeling like I do, Bend and break, I’ll pave the way for you.”

The heavy guitars and synth return before another chilled-out verse and big chorus. The pace briefly drops with a pulsing synth, before a big cry of “New Light, This is our fight” supported by intense guitars and synths. That fades into dreamy synths and high-pitched vocals, setting up a final blast of the chorus and a heavy outro.

On the track, the band told us: “It’s a relief in a way to finally get started and we’re looking forward to sharing more in the future. The reception has been more than we expected as a new band. For anyone yet to hear, it has a healthy dose of guitar riffs while giving some of the softest moments we’ve written so far. New Light is actually our least favourite of the songs we have lined up to release! But we are really enjoying seeing how people react to the music.” Check out their superb debut single in the video here:

You might be forgiven for thinking, ‘This is their least favourite, what the hell is coming next?’ Well, the rapid answer to that is the brand-new Distance, which was released on Friday. It opens up with echoey guitars that continue under Miguel’s light vocals. Rolling drums creep in before it bursts into a huge atmospheric chorus led by Miguel’s delicious vocals “Holding on, Surrender your bones and, Keep me close, The distance is closing, Gaps in your skin slowly fade away as we spin, Holding on, Surrender the moment.”

It drops back into the light instrumentals with echoey vocals and backing vocals leading into another mellow verse. The second chorus drops into an atmospheric instrumental section led by an almost pulsing guitar lick then drops into funky electronic vocals. And that sets up a dramatic final smash of the chorus. Check it out in the video here:

The SAVE US sound is influenced by a wide range of factors, as the band explains: “Between us we have a huge scope of music we enjoy and find inspiring which has evolved over the years. For this project, we felt heavily inspired by current dark alternative pop music and modern metal, which feels like it’s in the best place right now in terms of experimentation and fusing genres.

“Inspiration comes from so many places, chasing that feeling of creating something with a huge sound, chasing that dopamine when the idea forms into a full song. We are fans of all forms of music from pop to soundtrack to heavy metal music, we try not to limit ourselves to any particular rules, we just like to create. The themes centred around human experiences and we aim to retell personal experiences or otherwise in a way that alludes to the listener and that they may find a connection.”

There’s plenty more to come from SAVE US, with the band telling us that new music is their sole focus as they look to evolve heading into 2024.

And they add: “We are constantly working on developing in multiple directions and expect almost anything from us in terms of sound. We can’t wait to share what we have planned. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far!”

You can follow SAVE US on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Twitter and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp and Apple Music. And find more new bands like SAVE US through their label Year Of The Rat Records.