Devon Williams Premieres “In Babylon” A Tasteful New Wave Tune From Upcoming Album, ‘A Tear In The Fabric’

While everyone else is basking away in the sounds of pop, rock, country and other mainstream radio hits and fads, Devon Williams is breathing life back into classic new wave music.  With this lush resurgence which takes form across twelve songs from his forthcoming release A Tear In The Fabric, he is asking some important questions-questions that plague artists as much as everyday people.  These questions are best explored on his single, “In Babylon”.

“I remember coming up with the melody for the verses to ‘In Babylon’ in my car after starting the song at home maybe a year earlier,” Williams told American Songwriter.  “I was thinking:  What’s the point of working a full-time job? Is it vanity that drives a musician to write music? Which part of the brain is most important to satisfy – practical or emotional? Which part of the brain do I identify with? Is society “un-natural” or “inhumane”?  What are the circumstances under which a person has to think about their purpose?”

“The answer I could come up with is that my motivation changes daily” he said.  “No one is one thing. At my core I’ll always be someone who is compelled to write music because I like to craft things, whether people listen or not.”

Williams’ retrospective nature is entrenched in a few key events, the birth of his daughter and the death of his father.  Both events weathering no doubt, inspired Williams’ A Tear In The Fabric, his first record in six years, set for release May 1 by way of Slumberland Records.  

“In Babylon” is a new wave inspired tune, floating on ambient chorus guitar effects, driving bass lines, with heavy synths and vocals perfectly in line with eighties new wave greats.  The lyrics ‘I’ll never turn from the in-between’ repeated excessively draw a lingering effect, making the song memorable.   

The production of the track was not so easy, however.  During the six years Williams found himself facing new situations, he also had to face himself, which was a constant battle at times.  He often got caught up in a dialogue of his own thoughts, which lead to an obsessive nature that affected his songwriting as well as recording processes.  William’s was fixed on many aspects of his music and continuously revised and tampered with his songs, leading to a several years process, but Williams recalled it as the backing force for his album title, explaining it was natural and created the tears in the fabric of his everyday life.