When The Devil’s Loose
by Lana Fleischli
I’ve written about how mystery in music intrigues me. From Ella Woolsey and Beach Bunny’s EPs to SAULT’s recent release NINE, I am obsessed with the mystery that albums, or the artists behind them, can provide. That’s what initially intrigued me about A.A. Bondy’s album When The Devil’s Loose.
Before he was A.A. Bondy, he was Scott Bondy of the band Verbena. I was trying to learn more of this story, so I went onto Pitchfork and read about how he apparently felt that his frontman days with Verbena were his “baby” days, and he yearned for something more. He wrote two albums. When The Devil’s Loose was his second and potentially final album, because he kind of disappeared after that. It also wasn’t because the music wasn’t good or anything. He is very talented even though he was never formally trained in music (or anything for that matter).
He came back after ten years with an album in 2019, even though he had already decided that he was done with his music days. His story always struck me. Why would someone with talent and a love for music just decide to be done forever? There are so many potential answers to this question, I’ve thought of a few, but it doesn’t matter, because what he released is beautiful.
When The Devil’s Loose is a beautifully written album. It has layers of music inspiration, from folk, country, and rock. Each song doesn’t sound incredibly complex, and I think that adds to the beauty of the album as a whole. The songs in general consist of what seems to be from two to three instruments. It’s a very drum and string heavy album. The instrumentals are pretty and charming, complementing A.A. Bondy’s voice. The tones in his singing add a whole other layer of musicality, making the music have more complexity.
This album is very well done. It makes me feel like I’m in an episode of Friday Night Lights. That’s just how it sounds to me. I feel like you can feel the pain in his voice. It’s very genuine and it honestly makes me feel a bit melancholy. There is also hope in his words and his voice, that really pulled me out of the melancholy feeling when I listened to it. When The Devil’s Loose has waves of emotion.
When The Devil’s Loose is haunting because it feels like A.A. Bondy put his heart on his sleeve and just disappeared after that. I love a good story, and A.A. Bondy and When The Devil’s Loose, while not exactly a full story, is a good story.