“...both mysterious and uplifting…Devlin brings both a sense of defiance and vulnerability” - The Boot
“...a hauntingly beautiful indie record” - Milford Daily News
"Maryanna’s ability to create a haunting sound that slow burns into your ears easily makes her one of our favorite artists right now." - GRRRL Music
"The vocals have a Stevie Nicks-inspired delivery that adds grit to the ethereal backdrop and soft fingerpicking" - Glide Magazine
"Devlin’s tender voice is a beautiful blend of ease and conviction, one that calls to mind artists like Cat Power and Sharon Van Etten." - East of 8th
"The production layers on a richness that emphasizes Devlin’s lush vocals...this is a very personal record." - Twangville
"A beautiful voice" - Music For The Misfits
"...stunning" - Music Is My Life
"...gorgeously lush" - If It's Too Loud
LISTEN: A GREAT MANY THINGS
Today, Boston-raised, Germany-based singer-songwriter Maryanna Devlin has released her debut LP, A Great Many Things. “The title comes from the book Little Women,” Devlin explains. I grew up in Massachusetts, which is where the author, Louisa May Alcott, was from, and the house where she grew up, Orchard House, is a museum in Concord. I went there often as a kid, and I watched the movie on repeat. My family always compared me with Jo…I marched to the beat of my own drum, and never wanted to do conventional things,” she continues.
In Little Women, the character Jacob Mayer, after making a point about female voting rights, says, “You should have been a lawyer Ms. March,” and Jo says, “I should have been a great many things.” “As I got older, I, like we all do, began to regret sometimes the steps I didn't take, and chances I missed out on,” says Devlin. “I realized I wanted to do so many things, and be so many things, but I didn't have the confidence, or time, or money, or just the ability. We are only human, and can only do so much. So I started to use my songs as a means to act out all of the things I wanted to do,” she continues. “I have all possibilities at my fingertips through songwriting, and that brings me peace, and that's how I can be, and do a great many things.”
Devlin drew inspiration for some of the album’s tracks from several of her other literary heroes; “Timeline” is based on how Kurt Vonnegut explains the idea of time in his masterpiece, Slaughterhouse-Five–that time is actually linear, and the past present and future all exist as one. This idea became a broader theme throughout the album. Devlin uses the songs as means of time travel, going wherever she wants in her own life’s history to become “unstuck in time” like the main character of Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim.
WATCH: “GARY INDIANA”
For Devlin, music is both an outlet for trauma and an excuse to share our best stories. As a performer, her lush vocals and raw energy have drawn comparisons to both Lana Del Rey and Sharon van Etten, while her unique arrangements and introspective lyrics are informed by a background in theater and a deep love of literature. A Great Many Things showcases stunning breadth and originality in eight nuanced anthems.
“I’m fascinated by how art can transcend time and space to connect people, to make them feel less alone,” Devlin, who began songwriting as a way to process childhood grief, reveals. The devastating loss of her brother, who passed away when she was fourteen, led her to pursue music nearly a decade later. Inspired by Brandi Carlile, she borrowed a guitar and taught herself to play using a pamphlet of chords from her mother. She found singer-songwriter Josh Ritter a few years later, whose idiosyncratic style inspired her to continue creating music in her own, unique way.
After college, Devlin wrote, self-produced, and released three solo EPs, honing her vocal tone and unique brand of storytelling through the influence of artists like Simon and Garfunkel, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, and Stevie Nicks. Her early forays into songwriting soon led to performances across the East Coast and Europe, sharing the stage with acts like Darlingside and Becca Mancari. She met her partner in Nashville in 2013, and the pair eventually relocated to Frankfurt, Germany in 2017.
In A Great Many Things, Devlin presents a richly textured, more expansive version of her signature organic, acoustic sound. Many of the tracks on this refined and sharply reflective indie-Americana collection feature a full band backing her distinctly smooth vocals. The tracks, all written and composed by Devlin, are steeped in family and personal history, with lyrical themes exploring large temporal concepts like lineage, memory as a means of time travel, and the movement of time itself. Throughout the album, Devlin considers how we are connected and disconnected by its passing. From cover to cover, A Great Many Things contains an authentic variety of deeply human feelings, and spans an equally broad emotional spectrum, with moments of somber introspection in the vein of Elliot Smith and Townes Van Zandt juxtaposed with passages of bright and graceful ease.
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