“You are the smell before rain, you are the blood in my veins” ….

Artist collaborations tend to be odd creations especially when the artists come from two different sides of the musical spectrum. The other day I stumbled across a group of you tube videos from a tour that featured a collaboration of two artists I have enjoyed for many years. The tour took place this past spring and paired, solo artist, Kevin Devine with Jesse Lacey(lead singer of Brand New). I discovered Kevin Devine about six year ago with his first album Circle Gets the Square. His music was never anything groundbreaking, just a man, a guitar and a bundle of well written songs. My introduction of Jesse Lacey came through his band Brand New and their release Deja Entendu [1]. This album became a absolulte stable of the 6 months I spent studying in Ireland and will always remind me of traveling around Europe. Brand New has since released a much darker/heaver album titled The Devil and God are Raging inside Me[2], but Deja Entendu was by far their best album[3]. The fore mention collaboration videos come from a performance Kevin and Jesse put on together at the House of Blues in New Orleans. The set list consists of a mix of Brand New songs and Kevin Devine's Songs. The different elements that the both of them bring to each other's material makes for a very intriguing end product and a great performance. Take a glance at the videos and the links to the original songs, so you can witness the transformation.

Info:
Kevin Devine Kevin's Website
Brand New
Jesse Lacey

Music:

Brand New -The Boy who Blocked his Own Shot (Deja Entendu)
Brand New- I Will Play my Game Beneath the Spin Light (Deja Entendu)
Kevin Devine- Noose Dressed like Necklace (Make the Clocks Move)
Kevin Devine- Me and My Friends( Putting your Ghost to Rest)
Kevin Devine- Ballgame (Make the Clocks Move)

Jesse Lacey and Kevin Devine- The Boy Who Blocked his Own shot(Brand New) live at House of Blues
Jesse Lacey and Kevin Devine- Ballgame (Devine) Live at House of Blues
Bonus: Jesse Lacey and Kevin Devine- Play the Crack in the Sky live in West Babylon, NY [4]


[1] Thank you Mike Stratis
[2] Talk about a Heavy album title. I guess my soul is fucked up place was just a tad too literal
[3] Standouts include: Play The Crack in the Sky, The Boy who Blocked His own Shot, I Will Play my Game Beneath the Spin Light, The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
[4] This song relates the story of a sinking ship off Montauk Point to a relationship that is falling apart