Record Review - 4 November 27 2002

The Devlins got a break, of sorts, when a few tracks from their 1997 disc, Waiting, resurfaced on TV’s “Dawson’s Creek” and “Six Feet Under” in 2001. But devotees of Colin and Peter Devlin were familiar with the Irish brothers’ intimate atmospherics long before the WB and HBO came calling.

Personal stories set to ambient guitars, warm synth-pads and ebb-and-flow bass lines have proven a reliable formula for the band since its 1993 debut, Drift. The brothers’ third effort, the self-produced Consent, conforms ably to that reliable vibe.

Colin Devlin’s raspy speak-singing lends credibility to the mixed metaphors of “There Is a Light” and “The Strangest Things,” tunes that further establish him as a genuinely gifted songwriter. And its vulnerability and sexiness is as much a product of the album’s sparse production values and small-room recording techniques as the vocals themselves.

If “Static in the Flow” and “In Seville” are the latest additions to the Devlins’ ever-growing cache of studies in minor-key mood music, then “People Still Believing” is a new kind of groove — and a six-minute-plus plea for peace and unity. That’s not to say the band is political. Although Consent occasionally glows with the melodic optimism of a Lanois- or Eno-produced U2 album, the Devlins’ life-size vignettes are neither too socially ambitious nor anthemic. Bono may bear his soul to the world, but Colin Devlin just wants to bear his soul to you.??