With the weekend fast approaching, there is no time like the present to re-vamp our pre-drink playlists. In tow with her hypnotic flows and honey-suckled vocals, Savannah Ré ensures all the necessary vibes come through in abundance — unveiling six sensual tracks in her hotly dropped EP, “No Weapons”. Opening with a synth-laden “Caution”, Ré effortlessly entices her listeners inside her soundscape, where the chest-pounding reverbs of “About U” lull you into a trance that beckons for the dimmed lights and moody atmosphere of an underground speakeasy.

Also hosting two brand new tracks, the EP drop introduces “Last One” and “WTF” — the latter accompanied by a cinematic visual. Showcasing Ré in a lightly smoked room with the curtains drawn, the Historic Juno award winner delivers the tender lyrics of the track with a ferociously raw cadence — allowing her emotions to pierce through her hazy melody and out of the screen.

To celebrate the release, we sat with Savannah Ré to discuss the making of the EP, the pressures that came with its release and her very own biggest “WTF” moments.

To stream the EP, music video for “WTF” and for the full interview, head below now…

Hey Savannah! How are you today? Sum up your vibe in three words! 
That’s a cute question! My vibe is chill, strong, and stylish. 
 
“Closure” blends an array of musical influences. What were you listening to when you made it? 
At the time, I was in Halifax on the East Coast of Canada hanging out with a bunch of musicians and we were just chilling and drinking and we were all in this creative mood. The conversation led to talking about how once you have a little too much to drink, a lot of times you don’t make the best judgment calls as far as people that are in your life that shouldn’t be anymore. So, the idea was that closure is a scam. No one actually gets closure from a relationship until you decide you’re done. You don’t actually need the other person for closure. It was funny because we all related on that message. We ended up taking out the microphones and Yogi hooked up his interface and was pulling out loops and drum patterns. When he landed on the one for “Closure”, we all started moving our shoulders and bopping and that’s how we knew, okay, that’s the one, that’s the direction and the song took on a life of its own.
 
To you, what does ultimate closure look like? 
Honestly, ultimate closure is moving on with your life. That’s when you’re actually done. Prior to that point, if you still want a conversation, you don’t want that relationship to be over and that’s not closure. Or you’re not ready to heal or ready move on, so you’re looking for that from the other person. Closure to me is when you actually move on. 
 
Congratulations on your latest track “WTF”, what has been the biggest “WTF” moment in your life so far?
Oh my goodness! First of all, thank you! Ugh, I’ve had so many terrible moments. I think that because I’m in such a positive and wonderful relationship now, that people think that that hasn’t been the case but what I’m saying in the song is the scenario that happened to me right before my relationship now. My problem is that when I’m into somebody, I am all the way into somebody. I’m here thinking we’re exclusive and then boom – it becomes like, what the fuck. Why did I invest all of this time, love and effort into this relationship just for you to be selfish? What is all my love for? That’s literally the message on “WTF”. I was pulling from and embodying that type of energy for that song. So that’s one time, but I have many WTF moments. 
 
“No Weapons”, your second project is out now! Congrats! Were you affected by the notorious sophomore pressure at all?
Yes and no. Of course you think about the fact that you want to carry on the quality of a project that was received so well but for me, it actually excited me that Opia was so well received – it gave me the push I needed to start exploring other sounds and digging a little deeper in new ways for this project. However, there was an interview that I did right after Opia where the person brought up the sophomore curse and whether it was worrying me. Up until that point, I didn’t even know what the sophomore curse was! I was like well, it didn’t worry me before, but I’m worried now – so thank you for that! But I try not to buy into those type of things because no matter what, we’re ever changing as people so there’s no reason why I can’t do what I did before and even better now. 
 
Where do we find you at “No Weapons” compared with your debut? 
Honestly, I’m just at way more of a space of self-acceptance. I feel like Opia was the journey and it helped me to get there and No Weapons is kind of like, here I am and none of these things are phasing me anymore. Do these flaws still exist? Absolutely. We’re humans, we’re flawed. But I know that I’m good with all of these things and not only am I good, there’s a confidence and a badge that I wear of these things as opposed to being at a point where I’m like “Please accept me.” Now I’m like well, take it or leave it. 
 
Did you feel able to be more adventurous in the creative process on this project? 
1000%. For Opia, it is very much me, it’s still my message and what I wanted to say but I was so concerned with how people would perceive me, especially sonically. I was like, I’m R&B so it has to be R&B -it has to have this tempo, it has to have live sounding drums, those were the types of things that were on my mind. This time around, those were not on my mind and I didn’t feel pressure at all. I wanted to create what feels good to me right now, to be authentic to both myself as a person and as an artist and the truth to that is, I am not one thing. I am not in a box when it comes to the type of music I create. So for me, it was either, start introducing those other sounds now, on just my second EP, or down the line which is way riskier to do. You know, if I kept doing slower R&B and then I’m like boom, here’s a dancehall track, people would be like, are you okay? So I definitely wanted to start blending those other sounds on this project.

You are now the proud owner of two JUNO awards. What’s the ultimate accolade you would love to win in the future? 
Well, a JUNO is one of them but of course the next one would be a Grammy. A Grammy is 100% the next thing I have my eye on for sure.
 
What’s one thing we haven’t discussed that you would love to achieve before the end of the year? Personally, or professionally!
Professionally, I wanted to release this project and it’s out! So for the rest of the year, it’s very personal for me. I’m trying to be healthy and start healthy habits. When we get into project mode it’s just chaos so for the rest of the year, I want to get it together mentally and physically because I just want to hit the ground running at the top of 2023 so health is the focus for the rest of the year.