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Jessye DeSilva’s (they/them) version of the Jersey Devil has nothing to do with folklore. Unfold the map that is their latest album Landscapes and you’ll learn the devil is in the details of their sincere piano serenades, modeled after the sweeping ‘70s folk rock DeSilva was weaned on. But before that, the so-called devil was in a vilified queer child, hiding in a room and pouring out their tears over a broken piano.
The new album from the Boston musician recalls the trauma of growing up queer in a Baptist household on “Devil in New Jersey” with a vulnerable appoach; it mimics the tunes their family bonded over while cleaning the house on weekends, effectively mixing the good and bad kind of formative childhood memories.
That’s just what DeSilva does on Landscapes: they reconcile, and with remarkable grace. The new LP forges a path through the triumphant and trembling moments from DeSilva’s upbringing, using a live band to channel the fresh sound of classic records from Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and Jackson Browne.
“I’ve done a lot of healing this year in terms of my childhood and the interwoven dynamics of my family and how that has affected who I am and how I move through the world today,” DeSilva reflects. “I think that in many ways — maybe not totally consciously – those early musical influences from my parents showed up in the writing, arranging, and recording of this album.”
DeSilva traces their musical tenderness back to childhood piano lessons and years spent singing in their father’s Baptist church. In college, their vocal training as a countertenor honed their hearty vocals not just for their solo career, but for their career as an Assistant Professor of Voice at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music.
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18388 Coastal Hwy, Suite 11, Lewes, DE 19958, United States
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