Information/Write-up
released May 24, 2024
On his 16th record, Devil Talking, David Myles cuts loose, bares his soul, and leaves it all on the table. The New Brunswick-based song and dance man has never been one to shy away from heavy topics like love, loss, and faith, but over his career he's tried his best to stay positive. Amongst the soulful, bluesy, rockin', and countrified grooves of Devil Talking, Myles knocks down the walls he's constructed to protect his vulnerable self, and instead dives headlong into what makes him—and all of us—human: suffering, and all the many ways we cope with it. Aptly, the album contains some of Myles' most intimate and honest songwriting, buoyed by the liberating power of accepting your flawed self. He's grown fond of calling Devil Talking his sinnin' record.
"I wanted to sing about partying, making mistakes, falling apart and trying to pull yourself together again," Myles says. "More and more, I realize these are the things we hold in common. We’re not perfect—we mess things up and we try to find ways to move forward. And then we do it all again. But this is what it means to be human. It’s not all fairy tales. I wanted to write songs about embracing the highs and the lows we all experience."
Look no further than the title track for an acute introduction to a side of David Myles you may have only caught a glimpse of at a particularly rollicking live show. He wastes no time taking the advice of the pitchfork-wielding character on his shoulder, espousing the benefits of rolling and reeling on the weekend like a preacher possessed. The driving anthem "Break Free" finds him getting honest about the lies he's told to protect himself, and on "Twenty One," Myles' world-class band creates a shadowy vibe to set the scene for a tragic tale about a young man's past catching up with him well after he's turned a new leaf. "I Believe Anything" catches Myles celebrating life's most joyful moments—hearing his kids laugh, the birds sing—over kicked-back country funk, without worrying about what all of it means.
Elsewhere, the mood shifts from raucous to reflective. Above the back porch strum of "Someone is Listening," Myles sings about the complexity and mystery of faith; the dreamy romantic sway of "Still Missing You" and May Erlewine's harmonies drives home the melancholy of heartache; and the quiet, mournful sound of "Perdu à Saint-Henri" underscores a story about a man unmoored by a visit to the neighbourhood he used to live in with the lover he's now separated from. Without giving too much away, the beachy rhythms driving the sun-kissed "Footprints in the Sand" soundtrack a 40 day journey to find a wise woman in the mountains and ask her what the meaning of all this is. Myles' intrepid wanderer gets his answer, but it's not exactly what he was expecting.
Even when Devil Talking gets deep into its weightier subject matter, there's a lightness and inspired verve about the sound of it that abounds, as if Myles and the band feel certain that if one of them were to fall, the others would be there to pick them up. That's the result of a special camaraderie between these collaborators—Dean Drouillard, Asa Brosius, Leith Fleming-Smith, Reeny Smith, Alan Jeffries, Logan Richard, and Ray Legere—that's developed over the years. Joshua Van Tassel, an indispensable co-conspirator and multi-hyphenate, handled percussion, mixed, and co-produced the album alongside Myles. The core personnel has remained unchanged since 2021's JUNO-winning That Tall Distance, reinforcing the idea that time and friendship is one of the most effective recipes for creating great work.
Produced by David Myles and Joshua Van Tassel
Mixed by Joshua Van Tassel
Mastered by Heather Kirby at Dreamlands Studio
Engineered mainly by Joshua Van Tassel at Dream Date Studio, Upper Lahave, Nova Scotia and David Myles at Little Tiny Records in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Artwork and Design by Ryan Mesheau
Photo by Darren Calabrese
Released by Little Tiny Records / turtlemusik
Distributed by Warner Music Canada
All Songs Written By David Myles and Joshua Van Tassel.
Except “Perdu à Saint-Henri” Written By David Myles, Joshua Van Tassel and Carole Facal
No Comments