DEVIN DAVIS

Devin Davis, a new shining star in the city of Chicago, was a lonely, lonely boy when working on the nearly 'one-man-project' he saw released March 15th, entitled Lonely People of the World, Unite! (mousse records). As his website states, the album is "actually an anthemic ode to loneliness in its many forms". Working days as an engineer at ACME Recording in Chicago, he spent many lonesome nights making use of unbooked studio time to get the power pop gems of his debut down on tape. Whether the concept of the album was borne out of the actual loneliness of the process or was premeditated is of no consequence... either way this is a stunning debut.



With stated influences being The Beatles Revolver and The Kinks We Are The Village Green Preservation Society it would be up to the quasi-rock historians out there to pick up on these touchstones; and as these are very personal reference points for the composer, I think most listeners will hear and make more contemporary comparisions -- such as a more tempered Ted Leo, a less bohemian Marah, and even a hint of Matthew Sweet.

Fresh from his SXSW debut gig, Devin Davis, kindly took the time to answer a quick question I posed...

*6ize: With this being your first solo album, I was wondering what the impetus was to bring the project to completion, hell, to even get it off the ground? I expect it would take a lot of confidence , but it must have been more than just that.

DEVIN DAVIS: Well... I guess that I just wanted to make an album that you could listen to from start to finish... and I guess once I started.. there was no stopping... meaning ... the more I worked on it... the more I had to finish it.. you know?... it was like... "I've spent a year and a half on this I HAVE to see it through or else I'll hate myself".. you know?... It was a lot of work... every day... but it was a lot of fun... creating the songs and linking them together... I don't know .. working mostly by myself, I didn't really have any checks and balances... or feedback on stuff... I did play working versions for friends... and they seemed to dig it... so I guess that gave me some confidence... otherwise... it was just having to trust myself that I was "cutting out the bad parts" as much as I could... you know?

Listen to + turtle and the flightless bird [mp3]

*check out this post for another mp3

Visit Devin's website