Grant Stevens has released his album Devil’s Machinery, a guitar-based extended amalgamation of blues and rock with some big hooks, consistently persuasive vocal performances, and a retro-infused collection of songs.
Featuring nine all-new tracks and a reimagining of one of Dylan’s recent releases, I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You, Devil’s Machinery is musically broad and stylistically refined assemblage.
The culmination of a lifetime writing, recording, and performing—Stevens has released a string of singles and a previous album—the new album will surprise, satiate, and impress, whether it’s the blues wail of 25 to Life, the grit and growl of Devil’s Machinery or the all-out assault of V8 Sandman, the album’s cohesive intensity is one of its most vital points.
However, it’s Stevens’s vocal performances on which the songs rely for their retro mode charm. Produced by renowned producers Steve James (Choirboys, Cold Chisel, Thin Lizzy) and Micki Meuser and overseen by executive producer Don Esteban, Grant’s new album comes off the recent success of one of its lead tracks, V8 Sandman, which reached #7 on the AMRAP Metro Charts.
The album is well structured, kicking off with 25 to Life with its menacing groove and evocative organ interludes and closing with The Salvo Lady, a track whose traditional marching band overtones provide a fittingly singular way to end the show.
‘‘ The album showcases Stevens’s obvious musical capabilities, staying faithful to the blues, rock genre without sacrificing particular pop-rock melodic choices.
The album veers from classic blues grooves, such as Solitude Dude, to stadium-aimed showstoppers like Devil’s Machinery—while maintaining a potent edge and consistent melodic references.
Another crucial element to the cogency of Devil’s Machinery is its sonic polish, the blend of the contemporary with the classic. The album showcases Stevens’s obvious musical capabilities, staying faithful to the blues, rock genre without sacrificing particular pop-rock melodic choices.
Wide-ranging and accomplished, Devil’s Machinery is sure to add to Grant Stevens’s many accolades and endear him to an audience starved of such a style.
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