Tuesday, May 3, 2016

ATTENTION HEADSPACE ASTRONAUTS


After years of being lost in the deep space of record label purgatory, pressing plant delays, and financial limbo, the second full length album from the bastard sons of the Pacific Northwest has finally re-entered the atmosphere and landed back on Earth. The album, titled Headspace Astronaut, is the product of an exhaustive series of recording sessions that took place in Seattle, WA, during 2012 and 2013, the results of which remained top secret and highly classified... until now. With a total running time approaching an hour, this dense collection of tunes finds Devotion diving all the way into the heavy rock sound hinted at on their debut album. While clearly deeply influenced by Seattle's heavier, so-called "grunge" groups of the early '90s, as well as by the down-tuned groove of some of the biggest metal acts to emerge from the American South, Devotion essentially give stylistic nods to all manner of heavy guitar rock music, from the proto-metal pioneers of the 1970s right on through to the present. However, not content to rely exclusively on volume and aggression, tracks like Straight To The Bottom and Eyes Of Eternity find Devotion employing clean, acoustic guitars and sparse percussion to take the listener on a caravan to a planet of their own creation. Album production and audio engineering duties were handled by Jackson Long, with mastering treatments administered by Brad Boatright. The end result is a massive and heavily layered presentation of Devotion's most ambitious musical statement yet.

In today's culture of convenience and stunted attention spans an album of this length and magnitude, not to mention the years of waiting for an official release date, is perhaps a difficult proposition for those listeners looking for a quick fix. However, the band is appreciative of those whose interest has persisted and would like to send a "thanks to all the Headspace Astronauts out there willing to put in the time and take the journey with us."

Headspace Astronaut is available now on LP, cassette, and digital download. The cassette and digital versions feature an alternate track listing and an additional song that is not included on the vinyl version. A limited edition photo book documenting the making of the album and new merchandise designs are also available for mail order.

Furthermore, for the first time ever a digital download version of Devotion's debut album, Bastard Son Of Affluence Blues, is available for purchase. That can be found at the Devotion bandcamp page, iTunes, or any number of other digital music retailers. Of course, if a physical format is preferred, LP and CD versions are still available. Also, the song Roadburn, which was previously only released on an extremely limited lathe cut 7" for Devotion fanclub members, is now available for download from the Devotion bandcamp page.

To steam music and mailorder records and merchandise please visit www.sonicrealestate.bandcamp.com

Digital files are also available to purchase through iTunes, AmazonMP3, and numerous other digital music retailers.

If you live in Europe and would like to save money on shipping, the new LP is also available from Barcelona's Can't Keep Us Down Records: www.ckudxbcn.bigcartel.com

Follow the band at www.facebook.com/devotionofficial