Alexandra Savior

**Alexandra Savior McDermott** (born June 14, 1995) is an American singer-songwriter originally from Portland, Oregon. Her debut album, *Belladonna Of Sadness*, was released by Columbia Records on April 7, 2017.  Savior's second album, *The Archer* , was released by 30th Century Records on January 10, 2020.

## Early life

Savior was born in 1995 and attended school in the Portland metropolitan area. She first became interested in songwriting at age 14. Different in attitude and appearance from many of the other female students, she had a difficult go of it socially and had to change high schools.

Savior, known then by her birth name, first achieved public attention in September 2012 when as a 17-year-old her rendition of "Big Jet Plane" was spotted on YouTube by Courtney Love, who said "This girl is gonna be huge!". By April 2013, she had done a little modeling for Erin Fetherston and said she hoped her first album would be out soon. She graduated from high school in June 2013. By October 2013, Linda Perry was publicly comparing her potential to that of Fiona Apple. She scrapped tentative plans to attend art school.

## Musical career

### Beginnings

Around September 2013, Savior was signed to a recording contract by Columbia Records, had moved to Los Angeles and had entered the entertainment business, all steps that by her admission that she was not prepared for artistically or socially. But she has stated that Columbia was the best choice given that other labels were interested in modeling her after established artists such as Katy Perry or P!nk.

Previously titled *Strange Portrait*, her album-in-progress was written and recorded in Los Angeles with producers James Ford and Alex Turner in 2014–15. Her first demo "Risk" was featured on the soundtrack of the second season of the television show *True Detective*. For this appearance she was billed as Alexandra Semitone. Subsequently, during the recording process she decided, based on a suggestion from Turner, to use her middle name as the last for her stage name.

### Belladonna Of Sadness era

Main article: Belladonna Of Sadness (album)
Savior's debut official song release, "Shades", was released on June 17, 2016. "M.T.M.E." was released as her second single on September 8, 2016. The third single "Mystery Girl" was released on November 21, 2016 alongside the album announcement. "Mirage" was released on February 3, 2017. "Miracle Aligner", a song written by Savior and Turner during the recording sessions, though cut from the album, was re-recorded by Turner's band The Last Shadow Puppets. The song featured on their 2016 album, *Everything You've Come to Expect* and was released as that album's fourth single on March 28, 2016 via Domino Records. Her own paintings have been used for the covers of some of her releases, while accompanying the singles visually have been what Gigwise described as "her lo-fi self-directed videos."

Even though the album was essentially completed by June 2015, it did not come out; she remained "in development". She has given a few limited concert appearances, usually before industry audiences in the media capitals of Los Angeles, New York, and London. These appearances have been using the group PAPA as her backing musicians. Speaking of the delay in October 2016 she said "It's been very difficult." She also said: "The most important thing about the music industry I've learnt is that it's total bullshit, and that the thing you should focus on the most is just the art."

Savior appeared on Lea Michele's 2017 album *Places* as co-writer of the track "Sentimental Memories". In 2016, Savior appeared as a guest vocalist on the song "Providence Sky" by Brooklyn music group Dark Tea.

### The Archer era

In June 2019, two years after releasing *Belladonna of Sadness*, Savior returned with the lead single from her second studio album, *The Archer*, titled "Crying All The Time". It was released on June 14, 2019. The song was released on music streaming platforms through her newly signed recording label, 30th Century Records. The second single, "Saving Grace" was released on - . The titletrack "The Archer" was released as a third single on - . "Howl" was the last single from The Archer to be released, on - .

Savior released an acoustic version of "But You" on July 2020.

On december 7, 2020 "We're Just Making It Worse" was released, a single by Cameron Avery and Alexandra Savior, which was recorded back in 2015.

## Artistry

### Musical style

Alexandra Savior has described her style as a "feminist angst horror film feel." She has received positive notices for her early works. British music paper *NME* has said of one of her efforts, "... the striking and smoky vocals belong solely to Savior and ooze a burgeoning star power well beyond her tender age of 21."

### Influences

Savior's musical influences included Otis Redding, Etta James, Jack White, Amy Winehouse, and Adele, as well as the films of Terry Gilliam.

## Discography

### Albums

* *Belladonna of Sadness* (2017)
* *The Archer* (2020)

## Tours

### Headlining

* *Belladonna of Sadness Tour* | 2016-2019
* *The Archer Tour* | 2020-2022

### Supporting

* The Last Shadow Puppets
* Mini Mansion

## Awards and nominations

Savior was nominated for "*Emerging Artist Of The Year Award*" at the 2018 Pop Awards.

## External links

* Instagram account
* Twitter account
* Facebook page
* Depop account

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Interview: Alexandra Savior on her upcoming debut album.
2. ↑ Alexandra Savior announces debut album 'Belladonna of Sadness' + drops new song 'Mystery Girl'.
3. ↑ Alexandra Savior Finds Her Voice on 'The Archer': Album Premiere
4. ↑ Alexandra Savior - Artist Profile
5. ↑ Video: Courtney Love Declares Alexandra McDermott The Next Big Thing
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Next Big Thing: Alexandra McDermott – Galore
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Meet Alexandra Savior who's co-written her debut album with Alex Turner | Gigwise
8. ↑ Alexandra Savior
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Alexandra Savior, Mystery Girl, Steps out of the Shade
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 [https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-radar/alexandra-saviors-williamsburg-show-babys-all-right
 Alexandra Savior's May 2016 Williamsburg Show Reviewed]
11. ↑ Shazam
12. ↑ Alexander Savior Debuts First Official Song 'Shades'
13. ↑ Listen To Alexandra Savior's New Single 'M.T.M.E'
14. ↑ [1]
15. ↑ Listen to The Last Shadow Puppets' new song 'Miracle Aligner'
16. ↑ Listen: Alexandra Savior features on Dark Tea’s 'Providence Sky'.
17. ↑ Premiere: Alexandra Savior Shares New Single, 'Crying All The Time'
18. ↑ Listen To Alexandra Savior's New Single 'M.T.M.E'
19. ↑ [2]
20. ↑ Shades - Single On Spotify
21. ↑ M.T.M.E. - Single On Spotify
22. ↑ Mystery Girl - Single On Spotify
23. ↑ Mirage - Single On Spotify
24. ↑ Vanishing Point - Single On Spotify
25. ↑ Crying All the Time - Single On Spotify
26. ↑ Saving Grace - Single On Spotify
27. ↑ The Archer - Single On Spotify
28. ↑ Howl - Single On Spotify
29. ↑ Pop Awards 2018