"We lived a lifetime making this record. In the middle of our second recording session, Michael Nussbaum finished his drum parts and went on a paragliding trip where he had a near fatal 100 foot fall that broke his back. Then as the world descended into a parade of idiocy, my Dad suffered from kidney failure and was put on dialysis. All this stuff delayed the record over three years and just as we were finishing my Dad was rushed to the ICU and put on a ventilator. He miraculously recovered, and then just as it looked like he'd be coming home he passed away."

Finding hope in personal and cultural tragedies has always shaped Devlin McCluskey's work. His previous band, The Dead Ships, was one of the most electrifying to emerge from the LA garage rock scene in the last decade. Their sprawling songs melded McCluskey's grieving his best friends' suicide, with fortuitous visions of the rise of fascism in America. Named LA's best band by LA Weekly, and hailed by NPR as the new sound of west coast anthems, they became a must-see live act even before their explosive Coachella performances.

Now, Devlin is venturing into new sonic territory, teaming with Grammy-nominated mixer/producer Alex Newport (Death Cab For Cutie, Bloc Party, At The Drive-In), drummer Michael Nussbaum and a local supergroup to form Devlin and The Harm. Together they fuse McCluskey’s raw energy, melodic hooks, and reflections on sobriety, love, death, and a fractured America, with Newport’s vintage studio mastery & orchestral arrangements. The result is the self-titled debut album, DEVLINAND THE HARM, a bold symphonic sound that pushes the boundaries of 70s rock, garage soul, and indie baroque pop, while exploring the connection between personal and cultural battles, and showcasing the intensity that gave The Dead Ships their reputation as one of the best bands on the west coast. 

The album opens with “Kingdom Comes”, a smoky 60s march that explodes into a swirl of eastern guitar lines, spaghetti western strings, spanish horns, McCluskey’s howls, and Claire McKeown’s haunting soprano siren call. “Kingdom Comes felt epic, and was the biggest motivation to get back into the studio. I desperately wanted to hear the best version of the song, and needed to work with people who felt it could be something special.” About the haunted lyrical content, McCluskey says “I hope it’s expansive but at the core it’s about white-knuckling through dark desires and personal demons as the world shuts down and crumbles in the background. It’d be egomaniacal to think we achieved it, but I wanted to make something about self-suppression in the face of an American nightmare.”

The cinematic vibe and tragic undertow continues through the hard-hitting hooks of single “No Havana”, the lush piano orchestration of sentimental “Heyday” (which features The Try Guys Keith Habersberger on French Horn), the pixies meets 90’s brit-pop "Stress Dreams", all the way to the acoustic and cello bliss of closer "Greenpoint Dryout." And with nods to 70's soul (“Dirt Used to Be Gold”), the dark Americana of the Band (“Bad Actors”), and even AM classic country (“Come on Through”), it’s a grandiose mix that weaves retro influences like Fred Neil, Karen Dalton, and Scott Walker, with the contemporary sounds of Kevin Morby, Father John Misty, Michael Kiwanuka, and Damian Jurado.

"Some of the worst moments of our lives happened while recording this record, but I also fell in love, got engaged, and moved to the desert. I think songs can help process the terribleness. When things are this bleak, you have to do whatever you can to keep trying to be a better person."