Sara Devoe – On Death and Dying!
Rockstars can’t really be hurt by what anyone says about them. Books about their supposed actual life may move a few copies, but they won’t move people to believe the writer ahead of the musician.
The famous rock stars get to live out to be dictators, Stalin-like characters with a guitar attached to their hands. They get to tell their story however they like. And, more often than not, they get to tell the story of those around them in whatever way suits them.
It’s rare to find musicians like Sara Devoe nowadays. Then again, that’s not surprising. It’s not often that you find people who are so honest and so willing to discuss the unspeakable that they make you uncomfortable.
“On Death and Dying!” is such a beautifully romantic song that it naturally should make you feel just a little flustered. When’s the last time someone has talked about love and destruction in quite this way, let alone placed them together in a beautifully contoured, excellently sung tune? Best of all, it feels like the truth when Devoe could’ve just lied her way out of it. Benevolent rockstars are hard to find, after all.
Settling Houses – Oh My God! Babylon!
There are plenty of nice, high-paying jobs for literate, well-balanced people, but the job of rock musician is not one of them. Similarly, there are literally millions of people who could fall under their charms, but true romantics are unlikely to be swayed by someone healthy-looking and clean-living.
The great musicians, at least the ones that obsess over writing their own songs rather than playing Beatles covers, are people blessed with both talents and terrible trauma.
The ones that manage to get over these two things, such as the artists responsible for Settling Houses, have a shot at writing the kind of material that will turn some from regular listeners into obsessive fans.
Settling Houses’ “Oh My God! Babylon!” has the potential to become someone’s entire reason for liking music again. The song trades in poetic lyrics about shadowy family affairs and a convincing, intense folk-rock sound. This does not sound like music written in comfortable conditions under a gentle Sunday Sun. But that’s just as well. Most people who are really looking for something from their music can’t stand those.
