Savoir Faire
Hopeless Nostalgic

baroque pop / indie rock. singer songwriter / noir / chamber pop / retro

With a voice straight out of the jazz age, Savoir Faire brings the modern existential crisis into a realm of retro noir with Hopeless Nostalgic.

I am a very nostalgic person. And indeed, hopelessly so, at times. I have to remind myself not to live in the past, whether it's my past or the comforting allure of music, fashion, etc, from times past. That nostalgia feels very conflicted, because when you peel back the layers of those times, you reveal very imperfect and problematic eras. Memory can be very deceiving.

With songs like “Only Fools (Betarseed)”, which addresses the “Women, Life Freedom Movement” (I am Iranian American and feel such a mix of pride and sadness when I witness what is happening in Iran), amongst other feminine anthems such as "Sweet" and the pro-choice "Machine with a Dream," Hopeless Nostalgic begs the question “what if a torch singer wanted to join the Riot Grll movement instead of serving the male gaze? The answer is Hopeless Nostalgic, an album that begins with the sardonic “Curtains Up,” a dramatic noir ballad, and ends with the album’s title track, a melancholic yearning for the comforts of the past.

I call this genre of music retro noir, because it is nostalgic but dark. Life is dark. Nostalgia can be one hell of a drug, but the past can also be a reminder to us to take action in the present, for the future.