DEVICS: Push the Heart (Bella Union, 2006)

The band from L.A. which played in KSET (club in Zagreb,Croatia) few years ago and on majority of audience made a deep impression of honesty and kindness. Recently, they published their third album "Push the Heart", and their singer Sara was kind enough to send it to my address.

"Push the Heart" is, according to the first impression, more personal, more hermetic and more "naked" than the previous one "The Stars at Saint Andrea". The previous album was full of computer - electronic sounds and smelled more like trip-hop area. All this was minimized on this album and the only thing remaining are live people and live instruments. Therefore if the lyrics include the same issues (3L - love, lies, loss), here they sound much sadder. In this way, the whole album gets a certain slower rhythm.

Sara's voice is in this way more close to the voice of Kristin Hersh (Distant Radio) or to the fullness of the beautiful voice of Tanye Donelly (Just One Breath) (and we almost have THROWING MUSES as well). As Dustin O'Halloran, is apart from Sara, the only constant in the band and a co writer, he is appearing also as a vocal on songs such as Song for a Sleeping Girl and If We Cannot See. On the later they released some buttons, plugged in guitars and floated in post-rock manners far, far away …

This album is not so easy to be accepted as the earlier one, but with each new listening you may reveal something nice, warm, personal and sad …

grade [1-10]: 9

pedja // 17/03/2006