Sister Crayon - Devoted

First edition pressing of the sophomore Sister Crayon album via Alpha Pup Records, co-produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Wes Jones. Devoted is very much an album formed through loss. It is a juxtaposition of mourning that loss, challenging the loss of love, and understanding that love was never yours to begin with. It jumps from being cynical towards love to being wholly reflective and contemplative. Despite the melancholy nature of the subject, this album rarely touches sadness. Oakland duo Terra Lopez and Dani Fernandez have been performing as Sister Crayon, trying to qualify relationships, friendships, tour life and home life. In the spring of 2014, in a studio in Florida with co-producers Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Wes Jones, all of the questions and drama turned itself over through the creation of Devoted. More than anything else, Devoted is concentrated anger and frustration. The heavy beats and forward, aggressive nature in which the vocals are presented in every song set a much more revealing tone than heard in previous work. Vocals often border a juxtaposition between the female, male, and the "other" - and the album features three tracks co-written by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez: "Into Solemn Hymns," "Night Totem," and "Providence." In Devoted, the artists have taken a fully primal approach that focuses heavily on the electronic elements and voice. Lopez and Fernandez clung to these songs when there was nothing left. Devoted was written in order to restore faith in the act of devotion.