Brother's Blood - Kevin Devine

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	An assortment of amazing tracks
Disadvantages:	A couple of not so amazing tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Getting ready for the forthcoming epic weekend, in which my friend and I will saw Brand New twice, we had a number of things on our metaphorical ‘to-do list’. From hoping desperately my car would be on the road so I can drive (it wasn’t), then to sorting out train tickets, and planning that we can afford to stay somewhere in Birmingham, The Britannia Hotel, but couldn’t afford anywhere in London, so planned to stay up all night and just get a train back on Sunday morning. But, more importantly than that, we had to check out the support acts, namely a group called Moneen, and a guy named Kevin Devine.

I searched around some of the albums I had by Brand New, as I was sure, somewhere in a load of random live things I had downloaded, Kevin Devine had came up. I was right, and found a live set by the guy recorded a few years ago, and gave him a listen. I was immediately taken, and so sought out his studio albums.

Who is He?

Kevin Devine is a songwriter and musician from Brooklyn. He has played in a couple of bands since graduated from university in 2001, and built up popularity doing open mic nights when he was studying. Although he is pretty unknown still (bet you haven’t heard of him?) he has managed to build up a large fan base through his exposure with Brand New, having supported them numerous times. This is mainly due to being close friends with Jesse Lacey, the singer from Brand New, who has appeared on a couple of his songs.

Since 2002 he has released 5 albums in the US, and four here, his fifth, “Brother’s Blood” is due out in mid July. He was dropped by Capitol Records in 2007, and then moved to join Procrastinate! Music Traitors, a Record Label started by Brand New.

Brother’s Blood

Whilst it may only be out in a couple of weeks, I managed to get it a good week in advance of the gig, so I had heard the whole thing through a couple of times.

All of Everything Erased

Starting off with a simple acoustic piece. The gentle guitar sits softly in the background, a series of chords, with the odd series of notes played over. Kevin Devine’s voice has this magical softness to it, and is double tracked which makes is sound a little spooky. He doesn’t add any thrills to the song, except mid way through, where an electric guitar comes in just to play a few clean notes, which gives a mellow instrumental piece complimenting the feel of the song so perfectly. The ghostly sound he creates, reflects the meaning of the song, which he summed up at a live show once, where he said:

“One thing that's very comforting about everything that's going on, about the craziness is everyone talks about how we are going to do all this stuff, we are going to end the world with nuclear war, or with what we're doing to the environment, but its not like that... we are just going to end us and then the world will be fine, and all the green will grow back, and all the cities will be erased and we will just be this little blip, and that's very comforting to me, I mean we just fuck ourselves”

I didn’t see that at first, but listening to the song a few times, you really get it, and it is very well written, and could read like a classic poem. Opening the album like this is excellent, but one track down and already capturing me completely into his music.

I felt the city choke
I heard the world at war
I prayed for providence
God said, “Don’t pray no more
You went and made your mess
Now keep your blame off my feet”

Carnival

This was always one of my favourite Kevin Devine tracks, already possessing an iTunes play count of around 5x higher than all his other tracks. It was also one that I saw him perform live at the weekend, and was even more amazing then! He continues the ghostly feeling from the previous track, but loses the acoustic, bringing in his electric guitar, and a simple slow riff that sits behind his haunting vocals. At the second verse, the Goddamn Band join in, with a drum beat which is at equal volume to most of the vocals, and a keyboard or something electrical sounding plating soft chords in the background. The song has already reached awesomeness, at just half way through. The verses are incredibly well written, and it is so clear of the talent that Kevin processes, and the production of this song is incredible. Adding background noise to one of the verses, in various echoes of the lyrics, with it being quite haunting as the quiet screams of “but they're not real and never were and soon she won't be real either” overlaps Kevin’s gentle soft vocals. The song then goes into a slow instrumental, with the guitar playing the tune of the verses, and cries of “no” over it all. It is, my favourite song from the album, and I love the fact that the greatness of it lasts over six minutes.

Time to Burn (Another Bag of Bones)

It opens, having faded in from the previous track, with a muted throb on the guitar, loosened to releasing a couple of notes. The verse opens over a bass line, his voice just singing the words with some force, but not going overboard – not as gentle as the past two songs though. The main music of the song comes in for the second verse, a simple drum beat, the bass line becoming less dominant, and then the bent notes from the guitar. It sounds awesome. Towards the end, there is background conversation in the distance, with the guitar releasing a great sounding little riff, and the music all rising to a climactic throng. It then ends strangely, with some random chanting. The lyrics are straightforward, no hidden meanings. It is about some of the problems in the world today. Featuring on this track, is Jesse Lacey – Brand New’s lead singer.

It’s an Argentine school girl, gagged and bound
It’s a torture camp, it’s a long way down
It’s the constant brace and shock of now
It’s the whole damn world turned inside out, all right

Hands of God (When you Breathe, Breathe)

Opening with a little riff that sounds like the opening to one of Frank Turner’s songs, it changes though as the electric guitar spurts out a few chords, the initial percussion – nothing more than a sequence of claps. It has a really strong bass line that you can hear very dominantly. The make up of the music is really good, and has a kind of religious feel to it (from the clapping I suppose..) which fits the lyrics. The music doesn’t really change throughout, and while, it isn’t boring, there is nothing special. After three great tracks, he has produced one with a disappointing level of mediocrity.

Brothers Blood

The title track and longest song from the album, coming in at nearly 8 minutes. It opens with a sequence of notes, and a slow drum beat. Two guitars take it in turns playing little bits, and it has a real power behind the sound, then, out of no-where, comes a real old school sound, slow, long notes played, with echoes. It sounds like an experimental piece that Fleetwood Mac might have done, has a deep bluesy sound to it. The song opening continues to change, it doesn’t actually stay constant for long at all, until the verses, where the vocals are perfectly sang, his voice sounding pretty much exactly like it does live. Between the verses, is more instrumental pieces, keeping a constant repetition of the riff that was played earlier in the song, before swiftly coming back to the next verse, where the vocals sound like they have more power. Then another instrumental section, but louder. It has a raw sound, it has power behind it. Two guitars overlapping each other, one chords, one the riffs. The drum really pounding along, and a bass line, which normally sounds quite inaudible at these volumes, is clear and defined. The next verse, Kevin seems to have a deep anger behind his vocals, he gently shouts the words, and with the music behind, it has so much power, so much emotion. Time for another unique instrumental piece, completely different from before, and finally we finish with the final three lines, the song is winding down as he sings them, and all we are left with is the guitar playing one final piece, some keyboard sounds and a gentle clattering on the cymbals. 7 minutes of emotion. Complete.

Spit and scream what's done is done
Go make your peace with everyone
They don't need to know about my brothers blood

Fever Moon

It opens with a Spanish feel. The chords are delicate, and the percussion is sandy sounding. His voice here, sounds barely more than a whisper, it has a mysterious sensual sound to it throughout. Quite “romantic” I suppose. Mid way through, there is a cornet or brass instrument thingy that plays a little more, adding to the romance contained. The lyrics bare some relation to sex, relationships and the like. It is a pretty average song. Not in terms of it being a common sound, or it being shite, but it just blends into the background. It doesn’t contain anything special that makes is stand up on it’s own. And I don’t think I have bothered listening to it that much.

It’s Only Your Life

Originally entitled “You Won’t You Won’t” which I had on a live set which I had downloaded. It was the song that drew me into Kevin Devine. It is a basic acoustic song. Just Kevin and his guitar. The music is simple, a series of notes gently finger plucked and it is quiet, sitting timidly behind the vocals, which have a different sound to them, than on previous songs. Kevin’s voice seems capable of a number of different sounds. In parts, he really sounds like ‘Bright Eyes’ on this track – and it could easily fit onto one of his albums. There is a minute or so in the middle of the song, where the guitar is just played, no vocals, no extra instruments. Just the notes from the acoustic guitar, sounding sullen and withdrawn. The sound of the changing of frets adds more rawness to it – it sounds pretty emotional, as do the last of the vocals, where Kevin sounds ever so more passionate in his singing. It is still one of my favourite songs that he has recorded, it is a beautiful track, and I wish he’d performed it when I saw him live.

Murphy’s Song

It has a simple sea feel to it, the rhythm to the simple acoustic guitar like a slow shanty. A small clatter on the cymbals is all the percussion it needs, with the dual vocals from Kevin and some woman. The song picks up in tempo mid way, and the electric guitar comes in, as does proper percussion. For a solo – Kevin whistles. It does have a nice sound to it, a gentle swaying feel, but it still isn’t something I listen to loads. In fact, this is the first time I have listened to the proper album version. Kevin summed up the lyrics as “this weird sea story about this kind of half-assed loner rolling around on the sea with his dog, this mangy, affectionate stray he used as a stand in for all his failed connections in the world, and what would happen when the dog died.”

I Could be With Anyone

This was a song that I had heard, but not really given much time to. Probably listening to it a dozen times or so in total (demo, EP version, and Album version combined). But when I saw him live, he did this song in both of his sets, and from then on, I have found a sincere love for it, and have listened to it so many more times. It opens with the guitar playing a quick set or chords, before leaving when the vocals begin, leaving a synthesised drum beat. The guitar then tries to come back in, throwing a note in every now and again, before the proper verses start. The full band playing perfectly together, it has a great steady tempo, which sits nicely in the background. But, it then moves on to the second half of the song, which sounds so much better, the tempo is lifted, and the vocals are stronger. It has this real get up and dance feel to it, and was awesome to see live. It is a real shame that it is the second shortest track, falling in at just 2:49, had he made it just a minute or two longer – wow.

Yr Husband

Another soft number. Opening with what sounds like a high pitched maraca, and a bass line. Kevin sings gently over the top, and 40 seconds in the rest of the music begins flooding in, in increments. As the whole song starts in earnest, it has a steady beat and the guitar flutters nicely over everything. While, it has a decent body to the song, the lyrics don’t really speak to me, and in general, it is another filler track, which could easily be removed with most people not battering an eyelid. Lyrically, it is about an affair, and how he wants it to be more than that.

Tomorrow’s Just too Late

Another song featuring the mega-awesome Jesse Lacey from Brand New, and the shortest song on the album. It is simple in make up, with just the acoustic guitar playing soft chords, while Jesse and Kevin sing together. Their voices complementing each others so perfectly. The vocals add all the music the song needs besides the chords. Lyrically, it speaks of a woman, who’s relationship has gone south, but she doesn’t quite realise it, or is clawing onto the fragments. It is another one of my favourite tracks from the album, not just because it has Jesse on it, but it just processes an intimate power, which comes from the dual vocals. If I had to pick one track on the album as the most beautiful – then this would be it.

The broken boy you bargain with
To turn back to the man
That you fell in love with once
But never saw again.
Is he in there? Do you think he drowned to death?
Well it's his decision to show his face again.

Final Thoughts

I always feel so happy when I discover a new band or artist that I really like. New music to listen to, new songs to remember. I feel even better, when they are insanely awesome. It happened with Frank Turner, it happened with Brand New, and Kevin Devine is running behind them too.

I currently have his entire discography on my iTunes, which at the moment, is all I listen to, occasionally switching over to Brand New. Kevin Devine has penned some amazing songs, and many of my favourites are contained upon this album.

Kevin Devine clearly processes an amazing talent, and his songs reflect that perfectly. His voice suits soft acoustic numbers, and the heavier songs, where he nearly screams what he sings, and everything in between. His voice actually sounds different on different songs, not different pitches, but actually different- like it isn’t the same person, with only a slight similarity underneath, and that is what makes his albums great.

He can flick from tracks like “It’s Only Your Life”, to something louder like “I could be with Anyone”, with perfect ease. It never sounds forced, it just sounds natural. His tracks contain real passion behind them, real emotion, and his ability as a song writer is equally amazing. Due to his range of style, I am sure that he would suit the tastes of loads of people. Brand New fans love him, that was obvious from the Gigs, where as many people were excited to see him, as they were Brand New (although the magnitude of excitement different greatly.) His songs fit into the same genre as Frank Turner, who also ranges from soft acoustic, to harsher songs, although, he isn’t quite as good as Frank. Then, there are his similarities to Bright Eyes, the band fronted by Conor Oberst, who again ranges from soft songs to more passion filled ones – but in a completely different way to Frank. They were just the three artists that came to my mind when I started listening.

While there are a couple of weaker tracks on the album, which I rarely actually listen to consciously, the quality of the good tracks more than make up for them, and it would be safe to say that this is my favourite album of his thus far. Highlighting the album is “Carnival”, “Tomorrow’s Just too Late” and “It’s Only your Life”. And if you had to listen to just three songs to get Kevin Devine – they would be the one’s I would recommend.

It was leaked online a few months before it was released in the US, and is due for release here on the 20th July. I got a copy earlier in the month, and it is available for £8.99 from www.hmv.co.uk.