Put simply, “Pavlov’s Dog” is a song about sexual desire. Anna B Savage’s final advance single from in|FLUX, her new album dropping this Friday, is an understated but propulsive track all about a positive sexual encounter. The song is all potential energy, a study in tension with no release. Amidst background panting sounds, Savage sings, “Just call me Pavlov’s dog/ I’m here, I’m waiting, I’m salivating.” It’s all done with a stately aesthetic that normally wouldn’t be graced with such salacious subject matter, with quite compelling results.

Savage’s statement:

Desire is hard when you know it’s not feasible in the long run, and this song charts that particular bittersweet scenario. A telling of a positive sexual encounter (because, I want to write about those ones too, and they feel so much more exceptional given historical experiences) where my sexuality was recognized and expressed and seen as a positive, healthy thing. Of course, I couldn’t write something solely positive, so this is a scenario where you know you both like each other, but you’re worlds just don’t overlap: your woods / my mountains. Ultimately, you have to let that special moment be just that: a single, special moment.

Listen below.

in|FLUX is out 2/17 on City Slang.