Brother's Blood - Ultra Clear, Kevin Devine, LP

Kevin Devine's 2009 LP, Brother's Blood, is another prime example of his versatility and boundless creativity. For such a collaborative effort the album starts off, oddly, with Devine himself on "All of Everything, Erased". The singer hops on some XO-type ground, navigating multiple chord changes and spitting out metaphors of "flaming Ferris Wheels" and "singing sea shells". It's the post-Elliot Smith folk song, but Devine owns it, making a simple-yet-elegant acoustic tune. He hits some similar highs on "It's Only Your Life" and the ending track "Tomorrow's Just Too Late" (this time strumming and using backing vox) but the majority of the effort strays from the bare-boned approach. The nearly eight-minute-long "Brother's Blood" is more on the Tim Kasher/Cursive-tip with it's plodding verse of introspective lyrics and eventual climax of screams. Halfway through the track we are even treated to some flutes(!) as Devine's new backing band starts to rear it's head. "Hand of God" uses an infectious hand-clap that's sure to please indie-lovin' audiences from the Bowery to Berlin. And "Fever Moon" has Spanish strums and wood block percussion: a stone-cold love song with an aching hook. The song peaks when the twinkling guitar fuses with some light horns. It's the kind of heartstrings crap that only maybe John Mayer could pull off. And I mean that in the best possible way.