Indie Rock trio Dehd, have released their third full length album, Flower of Devotion. The album was recorded last year in Chicago and released just in time for the nostalgia of live shows to settle in. The sound is as intense as it is anguished and melancholic. Songwriters Emily Kempf and Jason Balla rope together a cohesive and balanced display of cheerfulness and despair while Kempf shows off the strength and versatility of her vocals.
The album starts out like dynamite — Kempf’s first few verses lighting the stick until it explodes into the bellowing wails of Desire. As she sings the bridge; “Let me out/Let me out”, it crescendos and then mellows out with the tap, tap of the drum. The perfect start to an album that drips with intense love, heartache, and the fun of not taking oneself too serious.
The despair and devotion side of the album shows itself in “Flood”. Kempf becomes vulnerable about a relationship and the residual feelings after the breakup, singing, ”Another door is closed/And the windows are boarded up/And the house is burning/But I sit here drowning”. Her tone mournful as she releases the raw pain from a heartbreak.
The theme of pain and vulnerability is still lurking on the track “Month”, when Balla croons, “Comes and it goes/ I got your picture hanging on the wall.” According to an interview with Apple music, the song was written about Balla missing his mom after she passed. The repetition of the chorus matches the cyclical nostalgia that comes and goes like the rotations of time; similar to the ending and beginning of each month. The feeling of missing someone or something doesn’t go away especially if that person is no longer around.
Throughout the raw vulnerability in the album Dehd manages to make some lighthearted and fun tracks without losing their edge. In “Nobody”, Balla plays a tambourine live, giving the track a joyful, silly vibe.
“Haha”, another notable track about something everyone can relate to — crushes. Kempf sings “when did we cross the line/ when it comes to falling yeah/ I’m falling all the time”. The catchy chorus of “hahaha” was kind of therapeutic in a way; releasing all your crushes with each laugh and moving on.
Dehd executed a nifty album with vulnerability and skill. Although I am not able to sway my life away at one of their live shows; I can turn up “Desire”, pop open some wine, close my eyes and sway in my kitchen.