Interview by Kris Peters
Last month, Melbourne's elite vintage rock act, Devil Electric came roaring back with Tahlia, the first single from their upcoming third studio album of the same name. It was their first music in half a decade and what a triumphant return it was.
The song was taken from Devil Electric's new album of the same name, which is out now.
At its core, Tahlia is an album about fracture and survival, pain, frustration, and relationships breaking under pressure. Uncannily, its themes mirror the years that followed its recording, which only strengthen the emotive undertones of Tahlia. Delivered through soaring vocals, unforgettable hooks, and searing riffs.
Balancing heavy rock and doom with a contemporary edge, Tahlia is an album that demands to be felt start to finish. Soaring, immersive, and deeply personal, it marks a powerful chapter for Devil Electric and one well worth the wait. HEAVY sat down with Pierina O'Brien (vocals) on the eve of the albums release to find out more, starting by asking how the general feel is in the Devil Electric camp to finally get it out there.
"Yeah, amazing," she enthused. "It's been too long coming, I'd say. We've had this album for a while and COVID really impacted our ability to release it, essentially. We wanted to release it much earlier, but here we are. We're finally in the day. I'm so excited. I love this album. I love the songs on it. I hope everyone else loves this album too (laughs)."
We ask Pierina to dive deeper into the musical side of the album.
"It's an interesting question," she measured. "I've had to reflect back on this because... there was sort of this tumultuous period of my life in which I was writing both of these albums - Godless and Talia -, and little did I know it was going to get profoundly worse before it got better (laughs). But yeah, but there was this bookcase in my lounge room and I used to sit in the every night and sort of, you know, tinkering around.
"I was going through this time sitting in my lounge room and looking at this bookcase, so I wrote a lot of the music around the themes of these different books on the shelf. It sounds so cliche, but it actually was kind of a nice stimulant for me to look at when I'm trying to write lyrics. And so thematically they're quite similar, but I'd say all of the most probably painful songs ended up on Talia."
In the full interview, Pierina described Tahlia as a six-song, lyrically dark and personal record; she emphasized her strong attachment to the material and relief at finally releasing it. She noted some songs were written alongside the previous album Godless and highlighted the closing track "Hereafter" as a nine-minute, emotionally difficult piece that ultimately ends on a hopeful note.
The discussion moved into track-by-track commentary, with Pip summarizing the tone and themes of "Talia," "Jill and Jack Shit," "Weirdos," "When We Talk About Nothing," and the instrumental "Acid Bath," and naming collaborators involved. They covered the music-video creative process, getting the musical balance correct in the writing process and more.
Get your copy of Tahlia: devilelectric.bandcamp.com/album/tahlia
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