Devlin's sophomore full-length album, For Whom the Angels Named, was released in Fall of 2011, eight months after the 7" Vinyl Ladybug EP, in winter of 2011.
Recorded live March 19th 2011, beneath the largest full moon seen in 18 years, Devlin returned to her live, solo singer/songwriter and acoustic roots to track eight songs at FLUX Studio NYC with good friend, Sound Engineer and Studio Manager, Daniel Sanint. Previously, Devlin worked with Sanint to record the Ladybug EP.
For Whom The Angels Named , a quote taken from Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven, was a nod to Devlin's Mexican, biological grandmother, Lenore Malo, who died the same year Devlin's father was born.
"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore."
The recording preserves the gentle purity, sensational nearness and impetuous tempo audiences had come to expect from Devlin's breathlessly intimate live performances. Each of the eight songs on For Whom The Angels Named, paints the portrait and tells the story of an individual; each song title is a different name.
For Whom The Angels Named, a limited edition, signed, 100 copy 12" vinyl pressing was released during the Summer Antifolk Festival on Sept 22, 2011 at Sidewalk Cafe in LES, NYC and received a write-up in The New York Times: Artsbeat where journalist James C. McKinley Jr. wrote about the LES Antifolk music scene in which Devlin got her start.
"Some music scenes are too mischievous to die. For 18 years, an eclectic group of songwriters who label themselves part of the “antifolk movement” have been meeting at the Sidewalk Café in the East Village for one of the longest running open-mike nights in the city."
Mckinley went on to highlight Devlin's performance...
"On Thursday night, for instance, the headliner was Elizabeth Devlin, who sang her densely packed and surreal verses about the stew of being a woman over an autoharp, her little girl’s voice riding coyly over the weirdly discordant harmonies she traced with her hands. (She read Walt Whitman’s poetry between songs.) "
Subsequently, the album was reviewed by music blogger and Consequence of Sound founder, Alex Young, who said...
"It’s in the way Devlin sings in the same soft, fluttering voice, the way her songs wander without a traditional structure or even a chorus, and the way she paints abstract narratives with lyrics that feel more like poetry than song. That said, while the similarities are impossible to ignore, Devlin is her own artist and one that’s worthy of attention."
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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Devlin's sophomore full-length album, For Whom the Angels Named, was released in Fall of 2011, eight months after the 7" Vinyl Ladybug EP, in winter of 2011.
Recorded live March 19th 2011, beneath the largest full moon seen in 18 years, Devlin returned to her live, solo singer/songwriter and acoustic roots to track eight songs at FLUX Studio NYC with good friend, Sound Engineer and Studio Manager, Daniel Sanint. Previously, Devlin worked with Sanint to record the Ladybug EP.
For Whom The Angels Named , a quote taken from Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven, was a nod to Devlin's Mexican, biological grandmother, Lenore Malo, who died the same year Devlin's father was born.
"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore."
The recording preserves the gentle purity, sensational nearness and impetuous tempo audiences had come to expect from Devlin's breathlessly intimate live performances. Each of the eight songs on For Whom The Angels Named, paints the portrait and tells the story of an individual; each song title is a different name.
For Whom The Angels Named, a limited edition, signed, 100 copy 12" vinyl pressing was released during the Summer Antifolk Festival on Sept 22, 2011 at Sidewalk Cafe in LES, NYC and received a write-up in The New York Times: Artsbeat where journalist James C. McKinley Jr. wrote about the LES Antifolk music scene in which Devlin got her start.
"Some music scenes are too mischievous to die. For 18 years, an eclectic group of songwriters who label themselves part of the “antifolk movement” have been meeting at the Sidewalk Café in the East Village for one of the longest running open-mike nights in the city."
Mckinley went on to highlight Devlin's performance...
"On Thursday night, for instance, the headliner was Elizabeth Devlin, who sang her densely packed and surreal verses about the stew of being a woman over an autoharp, her little girl’s voice riding coyly over the weirdly discordant harmonies she traced with her hands. (She read Walt Whitman’s poetry between songs.) "
Subsequently, the album was reviewed by music blogger and Consequence of Sound founder, Alex Young, who said...
"It’s in the way Devlin sings in the same soft, fluttering voice, the way her songs wander without a traditional structure or even a chorus, and the way she paints abstract narratives with lyrics that feel more like poetry than song. That said, while the similarities are impossible to ignore, Devlin is her own artist and one that’s worthy of attention."
lyrics
you placed a joker in her lap before the night began delivering up the varnish to shine and seal the man a touch of mediocrity a tactile tough remorse the raindrops they fell upon the sill the evening dripped its course she wore her hair in two long braids that’s how you found her true freeing the fire of her mane she burned all over you it was too much the flame too pure your upper atmosphere lacked the oxygen lungs require her path began to veer
when a lover feels like home it’s hard to see the must gathering on the mantel’s mouth dampening the dust she was fire you were rain as it was so it goes you snuffed out her pyre with pain she vaporized your flow
now penance time you dined while she sat cocked stiff as a board consuming the last suppers wine she awaited the lord but money turned the table in the temple golden rain and leaning over you gently kissed her bound up fiery mane don’t worry much about it love there are still stars in the night although they are made invisible by city’s burning lights don’t think on her a moment for a moment’s all she’ll spare gathering these things to her she once again pulls up her hair
when a lover feels like home it’s hard to see the must gathering on the mantel’s mouth dampening the dust she was fire you were rain as it was so it goes you snuffed out her pyre with pain she vaporized your flow
credits
from For Whom The Angels Named,
released September 23, 2011
Elizabeth Devlin: All songs, Vocals, Autoharp
Produced by Elizabeth Devlin
Engineered/Mixed by Daniel Sanint
Mastered by Paul Gold, Salt Mastering
Photographs: Lia Robinson
Elizabeth Devlin, with her haunting combination of lilting voice and enchanting Autoharp, is a self-produced NYC singer-
songwriter. Devlin defies traditional musical structure with many of her songs, building miniature narratives and magical worlds where characters, fantasies and time collide.
Devlin has toured nationally, internationally, & performs in venues throughout NYC's 5 boroughs....more
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