Folios

Lo-fi cardigan rock from veteran St. Paul songwriter Martin Devaney. If Low and The Lemonheads made a split 7" in 1994. Sad music for people who...like books. Written and recorded at his home during the pandemic winter, Devaney sang all the vocal parts and played all the instruments on 2021's Dispatch--guitars, keyboards, toy piano, saxophone, harmonica, percussion, and bucket drums. Then he teamed up with Tom Herbers (Low, Soul Asylum, Trampled By Turtles, Charlie Parr) who mixed and mastered it. The stripped-down sound and personal songwriting gives the album an intimate late-night vibe, like we are hanging out with him in his basement, swapping stories and sharing our darkest fears and brightest hopes. From the sunny “Weekend Holiday” to the dreamy “No Line in the Sand” to the stubborn song of resilience “Bad Penny,” the tracks sound like familiar companions, guiding us through a season of change and personal transformation. In a live setting, Folios has become a five-piece band with musicians who have played with Devaney at various times over the last twenty years.

“Dispatch echoes Elliott Smith and Robyn Hitchcock with a unique Minnesotan warmth and sense of resiliency.”

Minneapolis Star Tribune