PREMIERE | Devon Williams, "La La La La II"
A grand sequel to a grandiose original from Devon Williams; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Out of this era of universally proclaimed unprecedented circumstances, stories of previously unfathomable loss and tales of solitude will continue to populate discourse and will undoubtedly be dissected by a plethora of historiographical lenses. From the spaces of mandated solitary confinement, the world's most creative talents have countered the cabin fever and other associated anxieties with the catharsis of capturing and releasing fragments of introspective and artistic entities composed with an accelerated ambitious focus. In the case of Devon Williams, the artist escaped Los Angeles for Denmark during the summer of 2020 and created the four song cycle Out of Time recorded in the experiential keys of self-described impatience and isolation. The movements of each track emanates and smolders slowly like hazy clouds and heartfelt smoke signals coasting across the Atlantic sea. These span from the siren Angelo Badalamenti-esque synths on the entrancing "Across the Ocean", to lamentations over the finite and economic anachronisms on the title track, along with a plea for the miracle of universal harmony on "Peace Now".
The lead track off the EP is an update of the closing outro from Devon's 2011 album Euphoria titled "La La La La II". Accompanied with the apropos polychromatic, kaleidoscopic visual from Audrey Densmore; the euphoric echoes of the ephemeral and eternal established by the original are elaborated into brighter pop beams of light. These aural exhibitions are seen in Densmore's video that casts a technicolor array of illumination through dew laden designs of a spider's web — further gazing deeper at the inexplicable beauty of sunrises, sunsets and the pink petaled exuberance of a flower in bloom. Williams' redux of "La La La La" sparkles with the kind of kindred sentimentality found on a new romantic ballad or a powerful scene embodying the principle tenets of the human connection in a John Hughes film. The track accomplishes the pop achievement of reveling in a heightened sphere of existence and aesthetic that defies the conventions of adjectives, superlatives and simplified descriptors.
Devon shared some introductory shine on the creation of the song sequel:
I wrote “La La La La” in 2009 for Euphoria. It’s the only song I still play from the album. I still feel the feeling when I play it, I'm surprised it hasn't diminished in its 10 years. The song is about intangible moments in music, how they're fleeting and how I chase them. Thematically, it made sense here on the Out of Time EP — when thinking about discipline vs impatience, and how that tension has played a hand in my songs, My needs are straw, my demons burn them all.
Out of Time is a four song collection of new recordings in the theme of impatience and isolation. July of last year, I came to Denmark — second happiest place on Earth — and wondered how long I'd be away from Los Angeles and why. So, the ideas of running out of time, feeling stagnant, self-doubt came through in different ways in these songs.
Out of Time will be available March 5 on Bandcamp Day via Slumberland and features contributions from Mega Bog’s Aaron Otheim, Kieran Adams (Joseph Shabason), Nic Hessler, Tim Ramsay, Wayne Faler, Dan Allaire, Allen Bleyle, Scott Cornish and Dave Carswell.
Cover art for the Out of Time EP.