Introduction
Devil Say Dance – Embers
Artist: Devil Say Dance
Title / Release Page: Embers
Release Date: 2015 Jan 27
Genre: Pop Rock
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Media: MP3
Pricing: Free
Label: Foof Records
Rating: ★★★★★★★★
Devil Say Dance – Embers is the first full-length release from the trio of Alice Elizabeth Taylor, Matt Williams and Wrenford Hoof. Originally the band started as a duo, but expanded to a three when Wrerford joined Alice and Matt before putting out their second EP ‘Madmen’. I first became aware of their work when Foof Records asked me to give a listen to Foof Yourself, Vol. 1. Devil Say Dance was one of the outstanding groups on that release.
Devil Say Dance – Embers
There is something totally hypnotic about the music of Devil Say Dance. There is a strong element of post-rock / shoe-gaze style, mixed with psychedelics and smooth vocals that undeniably will suck you in. It’s as if someone took a bunch of The Doors, Radiohead and The Beatles records, melted them in a crucible, and this is what poured out.
Devil Say Dance is adept at presenting the world to us in a way that is simultaneously sublime and dangerous. This is a dark, swirling world when even things that seem innocent have a haunting quality. But things that could be haunting, turn out to be mostly innocent.
For example, ‘Over The Edge’ would seem at first to be about love that has gone wrong. However, instead it’s about the extreme expression of love: going over the edge in love.
‘Pyromania’ sees an interesting twist on the style of the bands music. The song starts off with what sounds like a fairly typical DSD opening of guitar and vocals, and sounds like it’s going to build into a dark power-ballad. But then suddenly the opening breaks, and a driving synth bass line starts with a heavy, dark drum line behind it. This inversion of the structure of a song makes it even more chilling and effective, and yet doesn’t lose the feeling of the record. It’s an immaculately conceived piece of arrangement.
‘Forever 27′ starts off sounding like it’s going to be a nice pop tune about faith, until it turns into a song about addiction and death. The Forever 27 being referred to in this song is an unnofficial ‘club’ of sorts dedicated to all of the famous artists (mostly musicians) that died when they were twenty seven years old: Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, and others,. There is even a Forever 27 website to memorialize them.
Conclusion
We’ve only talked about a few of the tracks on this release. But there is not a weak track on this release. Personal favorites are ‘Pyromania’, ‘Welcome To Salem’, ‘Lucifer, Lucifer’ and ‘Slowly Floating’. It’s definitely a release you don’t want to miss.
