No Devotion Re-emerge with First Single "Starlings" from Forthcoming Sophomore Album No Oblivion (Velocity/Banquet Records)
It's been seven years since No Devotion—featuring vocalist Geoff Rickly (vocalist of Thursday,) bassist Stuart "Stu" Richardson, and guitarist Lee Gaze (ex-Lostprophets)—released their outstanding, Kerrang Album of The Year-winning debut, Permanence. Following a string of extremely unfortunate events, the members began to re-imagine the project as a personal lab of new sounds; a private vault where they could store some of their most personal experiences. That is... until now. Out this September 16, No Devotion will release No Oblivion, their long-awaited follow-up album recorded and produced/mixed by Richardson. Getting to hear what the trio has been creating over the years, solely for one another and the joy of the process, is a blinding feat—its songs deeply rich in texture, innovative in form, and full of pain.
No Oblivion stand-out "Starlings" marks the first new music to be released from the band since Permanence and it, also, might be the most relatable chorus that Geoff Rickly has ever written. "Does anybody else know how I feel?," he wonders, as the band paints the picture of depression's Black Dog as an ever-twisting flight of blackbirds, moving across the sky in endless permutations, rendering life prismatic in its capacity for new hurt. "The members of No Devotion have seen some sh*t," Rickly perfectly explains. Permanence, the band's brilliant debut album, was released on September 25, 2015 to near-universal acclaim and heavy [BBC Radio 1] airplay. That same week, their singer, Geoff Rickly (Thursday) was mugged and hospitalized on tour in Germany, the band's record label collapsed, and they barely made it through the remainder of the scheduled dates.
Nearly a year later, Kerrang awarded Permanence its Album of The Year—a strange omen for the members of No Devotion, at the time, but a foreshadow of the brilliant resurrection to come. Permanence was recently re-uploaded to stremaing services after years of mysterious absence. One thing long-time fans may notice, is No Devotion's one-time five-man line-up has now been parsed down to a three-piece with keyboardist Jamie Oliver and rhythm guitarist Mike Lewis both departing the band sometime in-between 2017-21. No Devotion's No Oblivion is out 9/16 on Velocity Records in The US and Banquet Records in The UK. Catch No Devotion on tour now with openers Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate) and Nate Bergman (Lionize.) Check out a statement from the band's Instagram page below.
We wanted to do something special to commemorate No Oblivion and Geoff took the lyric sheets from when he wrote the songs and ceremoniously tore them up once the songs were committed to tape. We, then, took these shredded papers and placed them inside the first 50 manufactured vinyl records. Some bands put a lyric sheet inside a record cover, but No Devotion has put the lyrics inside the actual record. Thank you to @thirdmanpressing for facilitating this for us. There will be lots more happening between now and the album coming out in September, but, in the meantime, enjoy "Starlings" on your favorite streaming service or watch the video on YouTube and click on the link in Bio to place an order. This story began a very long time ago in New Brunswick, New Jersey and it's both highly ironic and highly appropriate that we are currently in The Heldrich Hotel (in New Brunswick) as we launch this new chapter. Last night in @saintvitusbar was so special and we hope to see you tonight at @undrgroundarts. Thank you for your support—everything we had and more went into No Oblivion—we hope you love it as much as we do.