Can music make you feel less alone? Can it foster intimacy from afar? In his stark songs, which are like sonic poems, the Canadian artist Devon Welsh has mined such questions with rigor, vulnerability, and grace. From 2010 to present, his body of work has pushed language to the forein service of closing the space between artist and listener, prizing human connection above all.
With his duo Majical Cloudz, Welsh found a huge audience for that vision: he released two
critically-acclaimed LPs with Matador Records, and went from DIY house-show tours to playing arenas with Lorde. Moreover, Welsh created life-affirming moments: on-stage, he looked people in the eye — blurring the line between music and performance art — and could bewilder listeners or make them cry. But after disbanding Majical Cloudz in 2016, Welsh retreated to take stock of his purpose as an artist....
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Can music make you feel less alone? Can it foster intimacy from afar? In his stark songs, which are like sonic poems, the Canadian artist Devon Welsh has mined such questions with rigor, vulnerability, and grace. From 2010 to present, his body of work has pushed language to the forein service of closing the space between artist and listener, prizing human connection above all.
With his duo Majical Cloudz, Welsh found a huge audience for that vision: he released two
critically-acclaimed LPs with Matador Records, and went from DIY house-show tours to playing arenas with Lorde. Moreover, Welsh created life-affirming moments: on-stage, he looked people in the eye — blurring the line between music and performance art — and could bewilder listeners or make them cry. But after disbanding Majical Cloudz in 2016, Welsh retreated to take stock of his purpose as an artist.
He shifted his relationship with music. His solo album, Dream Songs, arrived in 2018, rescaling the pulsing heart of his work with arresting orchestral arrangements.
Welsh’s second solo album is called True Love, and it strengthens the poetry, illumination, and appealing minimalism of his best work. Working more fluidly and intuitively than before, Welsh reflects powerfully on the ambiguous emotional spaces around love—romantic, platonic, internal; how love can be a game, a daydream, a paradise, or horror. Flipping the fantasy of “true love” that prevails through pop culture, Welsh set out to articulate the human heart from realer angles and depths: True Love is instead an honoring and an investigation of “true love”’s complexities. “A lot of the songs are about the difficulties and grey areas around love—about everything that can go wrong or get complicated about loving somebody,” Welsh says. “They’re about actual love.”
In an era of widespread burnout, it feels radical and hopeful to see an artist reckon with these realities and find a personal path forward—and in his songs, a disarmingly clear sense of self.
Kan musik gøre dig mindre ensom? Kan musik skabe intimitet langvejs fra? Det er spørgsmål som disse den canadiske kunstner Devon Welsh graver sig ned i. I sine nøgne sange, der næsten er rene lydlige digte, fordyber han sig i dem med ynde og sårbarhed. Fra 2010 til i dag har hans arbejde især grundfæstet sig i at værdsætte den menneskelige forbindelse, specielt mellem performer og publikum. Med duoen Majical Cloudz fandt Welsh et vældig stort publikum for denne vision. Han udgav to anmelderroste LP’er hos Matador Records og gik fra gør-det-selv tours til at spille på de store arenaer med Lorde. Welsh skabte livsbekræftende momenter: på scenen kiggede han folket i øjnene, og han slørede grænsen mellem musik og performancekunst – og han fik folket til at græde af bar forbavselse. Men efter opløsningen af Majical Cloudz i 2016 trak Welsh sig tilbage for at overveje sit formål og meningen med at være kunstner.
Han omlagde sit forhold til musik. Soloalbummet "Dream Songs" udkom i 2018, og omskalerede hjertet af hans arbejde med fængslende orkestrale arrangementer. I Welsh’s andet soloalbum ”True Love” reflekterer han over de flertydige følelsesmæssige rum omkring kærlighed – romantisk, platonisk og evig kærlighed: hvordan kærlighed kan være et spil, en dagdrøm, et paradis eller et mareridt. Welsh vender fantasien om ”ægte kærlighed”, der er gennemgående for popkulturen, og går i stedet efter at beskrive menneskets hjerte fra mere reelle vinkler og dybder. ”True Love” er i stedet en lovprisning og en udforskning af det komplekse ved ægte kærlighed.
I en tid hvor udbrændthed er blevet almindeligt udbredt virker det radikalt og håbefuldt at se en kunstner anerkende livets realiteter og formå at finde sin egen personlige vej fremad i det.
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