Seeing emigrant Irish bands return to perform has become almost as much a part of Christmas as The Messiah, and as Christmas traditions go it is certainly more interesting than the queen's speech. Amongst this year's crop of prodigal children are The Devlins, battle hardened by a lengthy sojourn in America.
It has done them no harm either, by the sounds of things. Record company wrangles and cheap videos behind them, they are now nothing if not stylish. Dressed in the obligatory black, they project carefully evocative stills on the wall behind them in an effort to reflect the gentle melancholy of their music. Their sound is similarly polished, melodious to a fault, aiming at the sort of grand sweep of something like The Unforgettable Fire.
Often it works well, on the acoustic Reckless and most especially on opener The World Outside, where distinct guitar and bass lines, often interplaying with each other, offer relief to the otherwise smooth texture. But the music is let down by a truly horrible synthesiser (with the most unconvincing "piano" I've heard in ages) that fills out the sound but smothers the detail, and the lack of a true Exocet moment where the music really took off. Moreover, in creating the wash of sound they often dissipate the tension that makes music interesting.
They're not far off though, and with a bit of grit could easily develop into a musical pearl when they return next Christmas.
