Cape Breton Island is a speck of rock sitting on the map. Just a little brother hanging around the heels of Nova Scotia, so it’s often easy to miss. Maybe this is why it has always felt the need to yell so loud.
It has hit above its weight in the music scene, been a kingpin in the coal mining industry, and secured its place in the history books by being home to the fortress of Louisbourg; an integral location in the French/English battles that shaped much of what Canada is today. It’s here that we start the conversation about Dylan Devoe’s latest album, Words and Sounds.
The tolling of bells and the stomping of marching feet usher us into the album’s opener. “The Battle of Louisbourg” is a historic narrative that drills home again the importance of what the fortress has meant to the area. It defended our coast, was a bargaining chip in the formation of multiple countries, supported unemployed miners through the work of its reconstruction, and serves as fodder for a rock and roll record some 263 years after its fall. Or does it? Is this even a rock record at all?
Devoe himself is not even sure. “It’s hard to pinpoint if this is a rock or folk album… it’s both and neither, really,” says Devoe. “Just when you think you’ve categorized it, the next song takes you for a hard turn.”
One thing is for sure. Devoe is a solid storyteller. His account of the happenings at Louisbourg take you right into battle and, while you’re there you become privy to all the other battles a young Cape Breton songwriter might find himself in.
Losing and finding love; navigating the waters of growing up in a small place you adore only to discover that opportunity lies elsewhere; looking in the mirror and really seeing yourself and knowing that if you’re going to have a chance to ever go home you had better get your act together… Dylan Devoe explores all of these things.
“I grew up listening to a lot of punk music that thrives off teenage angst—like NOFX, Descendants, Blink 182,” says Devoe. “Even though I’ve always been a sucker for writing some good old-fashioned rock n’ roll and folk tunes, I’m glad that younger side of me really shines through on this album.”
And shine through it does. Devoe delivers a simple album of snapshots about a guy with a story the same as countless other Cape Bretoners. The record itself, recorded at Broken Clock Studios, in Louisbourg, features some fantastic personnel. Colin Grant (fiddle), Collette Deveaux (vocals), Travis Morrison (drums), Jennie McKibbon (cello), and Jordan Musycsyn (guitar) make this offering a sonic delight. It mostly leans on four chords, it’s catchy and genuine, and in several cases, it’s not afraid to step outside the lines.
The albums’ singles, “Caper Run”, “Piece in West Virginia”, “The Battle of Louisbourg” and “The Island” all have that sing-along, memorable, campfire quality that great songs have.
Tracks like “Burn the Page” and “Voodoo Queen of New Orleans” seem almost out of place here until you realize that Devoe has a heart of rock and roll burning inside of him. It sits, tamed for the moment, alongside a handful of beautiful folk songs, and perhaps the best example of that is the album’s title track, “Words and Sounds.”
The song has that scratchy old LP sound and finds Dylan realizing that the place he’s happiest is lost in the music; in the middle of the words and the sounds. A wonderfully understated guitar solo leads into a beautiful line where he says, “and life may be a mystery but we’ll go down in history even if it’s only historic to you and me.”
This speaks of a man who has found what he’s always been looking for. He’s struggled at times, and lashed out when he felt he had to, but now he’s home and wrapped in the arms of his music and his family; lost in the words and the sounds.
Dylan Devoe’s new album, Words and Sounds, is available exclusively through his website at www.dylandevoe.com