Background
Elizabeth Devlin is a self-produced NYC singer-songwriter. Her third full length album, Orchid Mantis, comes out next month. In what is Devlin’s first release in over five years, Orchid Mantis is a follow-up to her previously released albums: For Whom the Angels Named, (Fall of 2011), Ladybug EP, (Winter 2011) and All Are Relative (Winter 2009). Devlin has toured nationally, internationally, & performs regularly around Brooklyn/NYC.
Being released during The Winter Anti-folk Festival at NYC’s Sidewalk Café on Feb. 8th, Orchid Mantis is a story and intimate portrayal of womanhood in the twenty-first-century domestic scene, intermingled with the lights and energy of Metropolis NYC.
Behind the scenes, this is what Devlin had to say on her latest work:
“This album focuses on private lives and interpersonal relationships—it speaks to many of the challenges and questions one faces after adolescent life stops and a new life, beyond the chrysalis, begins. We are all developing and growing…up, apart, together…it’s a hodgepodge of alternating expectations and creative processes and it’s exciting! The desire is to grab THIS, record it, keep it…a Polaroid of our collective moments, a diary entry of what our combined lives and creative experiences can be.”
Verdict
“The Field” is a chilling exercise in storytelling and vocal arrangement. Accompanying the haunting vocals are the faintest hints of autoharp play, as if Devlin is taking the hand of a listener while they walk through a graveyard in this surreal, unearthly world.
Both the beauty and the subtlety of the creative choices in “The Field” reveal the refined and newly reimagined direction of her music. It becomes difficult to not be drawn into her lair, as if it were the eerie calling of a siren. Enchanting is the experience, and memorable is the consequence.
The Devlin was certainly in the details. 4/5.
Support
You can find Elizabeth Devlin on Bandcamp, where you can pre-order Orchid Mantis. To keep up with her news and announcements, Facebook is a good choice, with more personal musings found on Tumblr.
