The new album from Devon Williams, A Tear in the Fabric, is the musician's third for Slumberland Records. And while the label is famous for being the home of jangle-rock, this newest Williams platter is more than simply that. What's here is some of the shiniest pop you're likely to hear this summer, and the kind of thing that should brighten up the dreariest of days during this pandemic.
"Followed Me Back" and "Out of Time" here are bright, throwback gems, recalling everything from The Plimsouls, to The La's, and even O.M.D. "For My Memory to Collect" and the superb "Borderline" double-down on the synth-pop, but Devon thankfully knows exactly how to do this. Like Young Guv before him, Williams uses the sleek surfaces to ornament excellent hooks, like on "In Babylon", a lead single here. And the overall effect is one that's unlikely to earn him any criticism for favoring an Eighties vibe on some of A Tear in the Fabric.
Circling back to the kind of music we'd expect from this label, one can hear a faint echo of Aztec Camera on "Peace Now?", the album closer here on A Tear in the Fabric, but Williams seems more interested in the Love (1987) iteration of that band, not the Postcard Records one. That said, the touch is a deft one throughout this record, such that Devon Williams gets away with a decidedly retro approach to his material that successfully accentuates the melodies throughout this. No mere nostalgia fest, A Tear in the Fabric is an expansion of mid-Eighties forms, and a neat blending of the DIY sensibilities of the jangle set with that of the keyboard warriors of the Reagan years. I loved it, in other words.
A Tear in the Fabric is out on Friday via Slumberland Records.
More details via the official Devon Williams Facebook page.
[Photo: Devon Williams / Slumberland Records]