Felix Devotion
Feminine Being
(self-released)
A layered snippet of vocal “ohh’s” into a shunking drum machine beat opens Felix Devotion’s new album, Feminine Being. This first tune has an Adam Ant/Dream Academy kind of battle call to it as Devotion (real name Joel Uritescu) sings basically only over a backbeat. “Eden†has that synth drums thing happening again, though there is a little more color from the instruments this time. Again we have Devotion way up front singing about the struggle between men and woman, the male and the female, which is what Feminine Being seems mostly to be about. Big slaps move “Dionysus.†With productions allowing this much space, this album could have easily fallen apart if not for Devotion’s expressive vocal abilities. On this track, he certainly reaches out lyrically. It’s less statement than the tunes that went before, more just a man yearning for a woman. The arpeggiated keys slice in at just the right moments. “St. Jerome†has good low bass stomps to it and a roiling beat. Again, Devotion’s vocals pick things up from where they could have too easily landed when production depend on the stiffness of programmed drums. With Uritescu handling all the instruments and vocals, and co-producing, we certainly are let into his singular vision on Feminine Being. It’s good stuff overall, certainly of a specific type and sound, where we don’t verge too far from drum beats that might have gotten tired if these tunes were any longer or Felix Devotion was not as good a singer as he is.
You can listen to the album here.
