The deep and low rumblings of Devon Church’s vocals seemingly roll from the velvety abyss that resides in the neocortex, aka the section of the brain responsible for semantic knowledge and longterm memories. (Think of it as the brain’s Jeopardy! repository.) Epiphanies fire across synaptic gaps, the fresh insights gleaned from old remembrances yet, somehow, the mental processes are simultaneously streamlined and jumbled. Is what we recall memory or imagined? Was it collected firsthand or extrapolated from books, photographs, and/or family lore? Does it matter?
Let me start again: Devon Church’s vocals peel the ceiling and floor from the unconscious mind, conjoining fantastical dreams with stark reality. He delves into the muck and mire of late-stage capitalism, but not as bromide or broadside; his are poetic analyses that eschew the TikTok half-assery littering much of modern discourse by honing in on the whys of how we got here. “Come back to bed, baby, call in sick,” he urges his partner in “Back from the Grind,” the lead-off track, before explaining, “I see no sense in making rich people richer.” That’s the working world in a nutshell, is it not? We work knowing that our bosses, America’s oligarchs, see us as replaceable cogs, no more, no less. We hold out no hope in getting ahead; that dream, for many, is long dead.
A few songs on, he explores the specters that haunt and explain the present day, from Fidel Castro to Angela Davis to Allen Ginsberg to Britney Spears to Sonic the Hedgehog. We have all witnessed, at one time or another, the best minds of our generations destroyed by madness. Back in the day, it was due to war, drugs, conformity. These days, it’s the same—and more. We drag ourselves through the bright screens of our phones looking for an anger fix. Outrage sells and distracts, after all. “Jamie Joins the Priesthood” paints an even blacker picture while promising that the world is the protagonist’s proverbial—if poisoned—oyster. All is not bleak, however: “Heart of the Earth,” “Wedding Song,” and even “Hospital Gowns” integrate hope into the proceedings, while the closing “Dive in the Flood” focuses on the minor things in life that, for many, are major. Forty days of rain matter, yes, but somehow matter a little less when we’re floating through the resulting flood with someone we love.
Church, a Winnipeg native who now lives in Manhattan, has crafted an exquisite collection that conjures, in part, Leonard Cohen. It also reminds me of the bygone bands from the 1980s, both underground and mainstream, with his gravely vocals the focal point. He’s accompanied by his wife, Ada Roth, on backing vocals, as well as a slew of fellow travelers, including Stephen Becker, Alexia Avina, Jackie West, Katy Pinke, Nico Osborne, and Mike Gebhart.
The Old Grey Cat 