Art by Anam Merchant
Written by Madison Boyce
On November 6th, 2020, Chicago solo artist Gino Savarino dropped a five-tracked EP titled “Joy, Find Me” under his artist name, Safe Bet. Despite it being an 18-minute release, he touches on such strong topics that a lot of people will likely be able to relate to.
The EP opens up with the first and only single, “Blue”. This was the first song I had ever heard from Safe Bet, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. At a live show, the band always takes an acoustic song break and this song feels like the one that they would play to lead the crowd out of the slowed-down portion of the set, a welcome concept in such a bleak time for live music.
Next up is a song called “Square One”, and it’s one of my favorites off of the EP for sure. The overwhelming feeling of regression is an all too familiar concept, and when Savarino sings “Oh no, I thought I made so much progress / I’m coming undone in self-sabotaging / I’ve fallen off track, headed back to square one”, you can almost feel the pain he is in.
After “Square One” comes “Playing the Part”, where Savarino speaks out about feeling so alone due to his mental health that he doesn’t feel like himself anymore. It’s like he can’t tell real feelings apart from the dark side of his mental health, singing ”I’ve been so detached for a while / why does it seem like I’m just playing the part? / is this truly how I feel in my heart?”
This next track is titled “Comfortable”, another one of my favorites off the EP. The track discusses feeling comfortable while being alone despite knowing that everyone is worried about you, expressed in lines like, “I’ve been told that the amount of time I spend alone is concerning but my only concern is being alone...but I’m just comfortable secluding it feels like second nature to me”.
Serving as a title track of sorts, the final song is called “Joy”. The EP closes with feelings of thinking you don't deserve happiness or even going as far as self-sabotaging that happiness, brought to life perfectly in phrases such as, “A brain that’s overflowing with negativity / usually has trouble welcoming a good thing.”
After listening to this EP a few times, it's obvious to me that this project is going to go farther than it already has. Covering such strong mental health topics brings something to the table a lot of people can relate to, making Safe Bet an artist you should have on your radar.
"Joy, Find Me" is available to stream wherever you listen to music, and you can keep up with Safe Bet by following them on Twitter @SafeBetOfficial. If you've listened to the EP, feel free to tweet us @lgndsoftmrw and let us know what your favorite track is!
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