Nashville’s Savannah Conley tears the doors off her next era with “Love You Mean It,” a fuzzed-out, full-throttle indie rock rush that trades quiet introspection for grit, freedom, and the reckless thrill of choosing joy – and meaning every word of it.
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Stream: “Love You, Mean It” – Savannah Conley
It’s about release and allowing yourself to have fun even when things might be dark or fearful otherwise.
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“Burn it up, I got a couple stacks on me…” Savannah Conley spits the line with a smirk and a spark, her voice drenched in grit and adrenaline.
“Love You Mean It” isn’t just a song – it’s a reckoning; a roaring, riff-laden declaration of independence and release. Guitars snarl, drums thump, and Conley’s vocals blaze through the noise like wildfire. For an artist once known for her delicate, dusky indie folk confessions, this is something else entirely – a right turn, a reintroduction, and a rebirth all at once.
Burn it up I got a couple stacks on me
Don’t have to be home
for a while keep it steady
Spent an hour and a half
just getting ready, pick me up
Meet me at 9 out at the Regal 8 parking lot
I got a handle full of vodka in a coffee cup
Keep your hand on the glass
See how long you can last
Raised just outside of Nashville in a deeply musical household – the daughter of a background singer mother and a session guitarist father – Savannah Conley has been immersed in music for as long as she can remember, and she’s been sharing that gift with the world ever since 2018.
Her debut EP Twenty-Twenty introduced the then-20-year-old channeling country, pop, and rock sounds into a nuanced and altogether mesmerizing statement; five years later, her debut album Playing the Part of You Is Me found the singer/songwriter plunging into the depths of her heart and soul to craft an intimately vulnerable and unapologetically raw full-length record – one reckoning with external forces and inner demons alike, “navigating the throes of mental illness and young adulthood while blending substance with style,” as Atwood wrote at the time.
Savannah Conley has built a catalog defined by emotional honesty, genre fluidity, and a refusal to sand down her edges.
From early acclaim and major-label beginnings to a more self-directed, hard-won sense of artistic freedom, her path has never been linear – but it’s always been unmistakably hers. After following her journey for years – she’s a three-time Atwood Magazine Editor’s Pick – this feels like her most exciting chapter yet: A bold evolution from the tender introspection of 2023’s debut LP Playing the Part of You Is Me into something rawer, louder, and more unapologetically alive. Like its parent EP of the same name, “Love You Mean It” is unfiltered and unflinching – all fire and brimstone, grit and glory. “Rev it, brake it, love ya, mean it,” she howls in the chorus, an emotionally charged mantra pulsing with feverish abandon. It’s the sound of someone who’s done playing it safe; who’s ready to live messy and loud and all the way through.
Rev it
Brake it
Love ya
Mean it
“To be perfectly honest, this song truly is about just f*ing off and having fun with your friends to me,” Conley tells Atwood Magazine. “It’s about release and allowing yourself to have fun even when things might be dark or fearful otherwise.”
That freedom radiates through every second of the song – the fuzzed-out guitars, the racing pulse, the grin that practically bleeds through the mic.
It’s reckless in the best way possible, brimming with life and electricity. Conley channels the spirit of a joyride at 90 miles an hour, windows down, no destination in sight. “Call it what you want but imma call it living,” she sings, her voice smirking against the static. “Won’t be like everybody else, just give me something I can feel, something I can touch.” It’s a manifesto for mischief and motion – and a reminder that sometimes survival looks like screaming into the night sky and meaning every word of it.
Call it what you want
but imma call it living
It’s a step above a life of just existing
Won’t be like everybody else
Just give me something I can feel
Something I can touch
I’ll do anything ’cause
everything is boring
This is the best that I can do
and I know what I’m doing
Keep my hand on the glass
See how long I can last
“When Jake Finch, Collin Pastore, and I sat down to write, we just kind of let it roll out and followed whatever came up,” she says. “We didn’t have many sonic goals going into it. We just all wanted to have fun and make whatever felt good to us, and this is what came out of it! I do really, really, really just f* with guitars though.”
Rev it
Brake it
Love ya
Mean it
Love it
Leave it
Take it
Keep it
That love for guitars, for grit, for feeling over perfection, defines the new era of Love You Mean It – both the song and the EP of the same name.
“It feels like the most apt energetically to describe what I was trying to get across with this project,” she adds. “If I could sum up a message, it would be to let yourself have fun.”
It’s simple, maybe, but it’s also radical – and after a few years of quiet, introspection, and growth, “Love You Mean It” and the five-track Love You, Mean It EP (independently out now) feel like the sound of Savannah Conley reclaiming her joy. It’s raw, wild, unapologetic, and free – and if this is the start of her next chapter, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.
To talk more about that shift – the joyride energy of “Love You Mean It,” the pause that preceded it, and what it’s felt like to come back to music on her own terms – Atwood Magazine caught up with Savannah Conley for a candid conversation about growth, guitars, mental health, and the simple act of letting yourself have fun again.
I want a little bit of everything
Hold the world on a bit of string
(Love why don’t you lie)
Spin around until my limbs grow numb
(Why don’t you lie)
Stumble in where I belong
(Why don’t you lie to me)
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:: stream/purchase Love You, Mean It here ::
:: connect with Savannah Conley here ::
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Stream: “Love You, Mean It” – Savannah Conley
A CONVERSATION WITH SAVANNAH CONLEY
Atwood Magazine: Savannah, for those who are just (re)discovering you today through this writeup, what do you want them to know about you and your music?
Savannah Conley: Well, first of all… Hello! Long time no see and nice to meet ya! I make music because I have to or I explode, and I share it because I’m hoping someone else has the same feelings I do.
It's been two long years since we featured your debut LP, Playing the Part of You is Me. How do you feel you've grown, artistically, since that release?
Savannah Conley: You know, sometimes I think that it’s hard to tell what is you growing in your art and what is you growing in your life and self. But, I think most of the time, when one is growing so is the other. In this case, I took a pretty long break from making music and touring professionally to get back to myself and rediscover what I like to do, who I am, what music I like etc, etc, etc. For a while there, I wondered if I even wanted to come back to music at all!
All of those questions that I found the answers to (and some that I didn’t) allowed me to expand myself and my interests, knowledge, and desires. I came out of that time period very different. I worried that since I was happier I would make shit music, but I think I’m just always worried about that anyway so who cares. Better to be happy and worrying than depressed and constantly worried.
What's the story behind “Love You Mean It,” and why did you choose that track as the first teaser off your new EP?
Savannah Conley: I got to know a lot of my teenage sister’s friends during my break from touring and was struck at how loving and honest they were with each other. They all told each other they loved each other constantly and just had so much fun. I think coming out of this dark place I just wanted things to feel fun.
You've talked a bit about this song encapsulating what it means to live – and some inspiration pulled from your sisters and her friends. What’s this song about, for you?
Savannah Conley: To be perfectly honest, this song truly is about just f*ing off and having fun with your friends to me. It’s about release and allowing yourself to have fun even when things might be dark or fearful otherwise.
I love the fuzz on this track - it feels a little heavier to me than some of your past work, a little grittier, a little rockier. Is this a direction (or sound) you're actively trying to embrace?
Savannah Conley: I don’t think we were actively trying to embrace anything in this project honestly. When Jake, Collin and I sat down to write, we just kind of let it roll out and followed whatever came up. We didn’t even really use many references or have many sonic goals going into it. We just all wanted to have fun and make whatever felt good to us, and this is what came out of it! I do really, really, really just f* with guitars though.
How does this track fit into the overall narrative of the EP of the same name?
Savannah Conley: It feels like the most apt energetically to describe what I was trying to get across with this project. If I could sum up a “message” if you will (forgive me), it would be to let yourself have fun.
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:: read more about Savannah Conley here ::
:: stream/purchase Love You, Mean It here ::
:: connect with Savannah Conley here ::
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Stream: “Love You, Mean It” – Savannah Conley
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