Q&A: Savannah Pope Unveils Her Most Haunting Work Yet with “Terrible Thing”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
LOS ANGELES POP DISRUPTOR SAVANNAH POPE returns with “Terrible Thing”, her most vulnerable and ambitious single to date. A baroque, flamenco-tinged confession, the new track unravels the paradox of craving a love you’re not yet able to hold, pulling from her travels, her classical influences and the emotional grit that has defined her ascent in LA’s underground art-pop scene. Known for her operatic vocals, surrealist visuals and raw, unguarded storytelling, Savannah pushes even deeper on this new release, offering a haunting preview of her forthcoming EP: an exploration of identity, repression and the hidden truths we learn to survive.
“Terrible Thing” extends the evolution that began with her breakout project Pandemonium, but ventures into more intimate, unflinching territory. It’s the sound of an artist stepping fully into her power, unmasking the parts of herself she once buried, and building a cinematic world where the beautiful and the brutal finally meet.
LUNA: “Terrible Thing” feels both intimate and cinematic. What moment or emotion first inspired this song?
POPE: It started with that hook in the chorus. That line just came to me: “Why would you do such a terrible, terrible thing? But don't stop please.” It has all these really delicious contradictions—raw but sardonic; vulnerable but guarded; bare but complicated. Something about that tension felt immediately right to me. So I spent a few hours laying down different voice memos and ideas that had been simmering for a while. A really natural process, this song.
LUNA: You’ve described the track as a “baroque, flamenco-tinged confessional.” How did your travels in Spain and your love for flamenco shape its sound?
POPE: My time in Spain seeped into “Terrible Thing” in ways I didn’t realize until I was in the studio, and the clapping became an essential part of the sound. I lived in Barcelona for a year studying painting, and I fell in love with the way flamenco holds seemingly opposing things—the sharp heel-strike of emotion mixed with sweetness. The baroque elements in Terrible Thing meet that flamenco tension: pretty yet disruptive. It felt like the right sonic language for a story about wanting love but not knowing how to accept it.
LUNA: Your work often explores themes of identity, repression, and survival. How do those ideas manifest in this new era of music for you?
POPE: These themes show up in a much more personal way now. I used to hide inside spectacle or archetypes to talk about identity and survival. But this time, I let myself be the subject instead of the symbol. The songs confront the messy parts—the compulsions, the shame, the ways I learned to disappear.
LUNA: You’ve been through such a transformative personal journey—from your early days performing in bands to now being a fully realized solo artist. How does that evolution show up in this EP?
POPE: It feels like I've lived a few lifetimes between those early band days and now. I spent several years shapeshifting—fronting bands, playing characters, learning how to survive in rooms that weren’t built for someone like me. My work as a solo artist keeps evolving in a more intimate way. There’s a new, gentler element to this era that’s actually scarier than the big bombastic stuff. The baroque drama is still there, the glam surrealism is still there, but the heart of it is more open, more feminine.
LUNA: The line “you need a song to say them” is such a powerful way to describe your writing. How do you use songwriting as a tool for emotional honesty or healing?
POPE: Songwriting is one of the only places where I see and tell the whole truth. In real life, I tend to swallow things and people please—I don’t think most people can take all of me in a regular conversation. But in a song, I can say the thing exactly as it is—ugly, tender, contradictory. That line, “you need a song to say them,” is literal. Some emotions are too volatile to survive on their own, so I put them in melody where they can breathe.
LUNA: You’re known for creating immersive visual worlds—from designing costumes to directing videos. What does the visual world of “Terrible Thing” look and feel like?
POPE: For “Terrible Thing,” I wanted the visuals to live in this surreal, heightened reality—halfway between a sort of childlike dream and a stark metropolitan dystopia. The look pulls from noir cinema and children’s stories, but filtered through my lens. Plus I threw some Mars Attacks in there because, of course.
LUNA: Collaboration seems foundational to this project. What did working with producers like Joshua Sadlier-Brown and All Made Up bring to your sound?
POPE: “Terrible Thing” was produced by Joshua Sadlier-Brown, and it was a pleasure to shape the emotional arc of the song with someone so talented and open-minded. This isn’t my first studio-born track—that started with “Melancholic Goddess” on Pandemonium with Sean Beavan. That song showed me how much freedom the studio can give, and it sparked a desire to keep exploring. With this EP, I’m following that thread: letting songs evolve, trusting my instincts. Working with All Made Up on “Panopticon,” which lives in a very different sonic world, came from that same openness. This era is about curiosity, discovery, and letting the music lead.
LUNA: Who have you been listening to lately?
POPE: The Last Dinner Party has been big for me. Sofia Isella, Fiona Apple. And I’ve been dipping back into a lot of old soul—Al Green especially. I’m kind of all over the place, as usual.
LUNA: Beyond your music, you’re outspoken about social issues and community advocacy. How do those passions connect to your art?
POPE: The themes I’m wrestling with lately—body politics, rising authoritarianism, the impossible expectations placed on women—are inseparable from what I see around me. Art is how I process those truths, but it’s also how I hold space for others navigating the same pressures. Performing and releasing music isn’t just expression—it’s a form of witnessing and rebelling.
LUNA: As you head into tour season, what do you hope fans take away from your live shows, especially with this more vulnerable material?
POPE: Touring with Andy Bell has been incredible. I’m halfway through the three-month run, and the audience connection has been amazing. After shows, people come up to me—sometimes in tears—to share how the songs have resonated. For any artist, let alone an opener, that is huge. With this rawer material, I want fans to leave feeling seen and part of something bigger—to feel the emotion, the release, the energy that makes live music so transformative.
Catch Savannah Pope on tour:
November 18th - Oklahoma City, OK - Tower Theatre (USA)
November 20th - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall (USA)
November 21st - Park City, UT - The Marquis (USA)
November 22nd - Park City, UT - The Marquis (USA)
November 25th - Sacramento, CA - Crest Theatre (USA)
November 26th - Menlo Park, CA - Guild Theatre (USA)
November 28th - San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts (USA)
November 29th - San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts (USA)
December 2nd - Portland, OR - Newmark Theatre (USA)
December 3rd - Vancouver, BC - Vogue (Canada)
December 4th - Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market (USA)
December 6th - Stateline, NV - Harrah's Lake Tahoe (USA)
December 9th - Phoenix, AZ - Van Buren (USA)
December 10th - San Diego, CA - Music Box (USA)
December 12th - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theater (USA)
December 13th - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theater (USA)
