Review Summary: I'm not crying, shut up, you're crying!
(This review was originally written for an online magazine Angle, but has since been deleted by a very mean co-owner. I'm republishing it here, slightly modified.)
Sister Crayon is a duo from California. They’ve been around for several years, releasing content since 2010. Devoted is their second full-length album. It is comprised of ten tracks, most of which are short and sweet.
The very first thing one notices once they start listening to Devoted is the percussion. The electronic-infused drums on each track are tight and beautifully constructed. The rhythm is reminiscent of trap music, actually. It sounds like someone tried to create a collection of trap beats, but instead of someone rapping over them like what usually happens to trap, Sister Crayon decided to sing on them. One wouldn’t normally expect singing on a trap beat to sound as good as this album does, and this is due, in part, to the angelic vocals from Sister Crayon. The words are loud and clear, and are the perfect gift to these trap-infused beats.
Another thing present throughout the entirety of Devoted is those calm, potent basslines, that get into your head and rattle your skull. The whole album is very bass-intensive, but it's never overwhelming. It really sounds like a lot of work was put into this album. It's easy to detect the emotions that went into Devoted. However, it actually sounds like the whole album was based off of one idea, and Sister Crayon added various twists and turns and manipulations to this concept of a song, to extract ten whole songs out of it. It's a miracle that this album doesn't get stale, though. It's fresh, and it's soothing.
One interesting aspect of this album is the use of vocals. Right away, on the song Armor, the listener will notice the soft breathing that repeatedly fades in and cuts out. It sounds like the vocalist of Sister Crayon recorded some sounds to be used as a sort of synth throughout the songs on the album, or perhaps, those sounds were taken directly from the vocals, already present on the track. I'm unsure as to how these sounds were created. All I know is that these sounds add a chilling atmosphere to Devoted, and they fit in perfectly. The mixing is great, the vocals are heavenly, and the songs are warm and inviting. They're inspirational. I'm struggling to find one thing about this album I don't like.
Before Devoted, I had never heard of Sister Crayon which, in hindsight, is sad. Their style is perfection. I was talking to a friend of mine about this album, and he said that although their fanbase is relatively small, a lot of people are obsessed with them. Now I can see why. This is an excellent album, and enjoyable to listen to. In fact, Devoted is worth a few listens. I don't know what Sister Crayon are going to come up with in the future, but now I'm definitely looking forward to it now.
