“Skin is delicate, yet so tough,” Gibson Guitar-sponsored alt-rocker DEVON THOMPSON explains, examining the title of her EP, Skin, OUT TODAYviaExquisite Feline. “This year I have been abusing [my skin] with all the guitar playing and my tattoos, so it only felt fair to dedicate some of the most painful songs to it. The skin on my fingertips would basically either shrivel up and fall off or would be rubbed raw from all the steel string contact.” Devon exhibits a beyond-her-years self awareness as both an artist and a human, her dark and creative melodies and explorative post-punk, gothic sensibility creating a resilient yet tender collection of songs.
The wise L.A.-based artist keeps both beauty and violence in check, finding equilibrium between pleasure and pain. “Skin is my second EP. It highlights the visceral and ethereal, the duality of emotions. The EP in its entirety is like a bipolar rollercoaster of emotions…” Devon professes.
Primarily recorded in Nashville with a few different co-writers, Skin represents the complexity and contradictions of Devon’s personality. “I have my soft, lovely, angelic side. But much of me is very dark, pessimistic, even hedonistic,” she expounds. “I’m extremely proud to put out something so symbolic of who I am as a person, and as an artist. A big theme of this EP is ‘Fairytales vs. Nightmares,’ fever dream-like visions I have.” While Devon enjoys darker imagery, lyrics, and sounds, there is an unmistakably mature levity in her voice and sensibility that belies her youth, as she gravitates towards the gothic while still footed in the mirth.
Embracing an “outsider” point of view is something intrinsic not only to Devon’s songwriting but to her being as well. Bullied and criticized for being artistic, her upbringing in Los Angeles wasn’t exactly idyllic. A lone wolf of sorts, the oppression she received from the popular kids only empowered her to focus on her creativity, blossoming into the critically-hailed artist that she is today. Called “sonically impressive and lyrically bold” (Altitude), “bare bones rock with alternative post punk and indie flavors throughout”, and compared to “PJ Harvey, Sarah Bettens, Johnette Napolitano” (American Pancake), Devon channels the angst and transforms it into the fiery anthems and tension-building slow burns that have defined her career so far.
With more music and live performances planned for 2024 (and just having completed her EP release show at Gibson Showroom in LA last night), Devon dove head-first into a busy and fast-paced year. Her partnership with producer James Salter (The Raveonettes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) which spawned “So Close” (released in late 2023 with its serial-killer/zombie-inspired video), promises even more music ahead. “We were just going to do six songs together and part ways, but we had something going,” she explains. Bonding over a shared love for the 4AD shoegaze band Lush, Devon and Salters continue to collaborate, resulting in a wealth of new music to be released this year