Sean Devine’s Here For It All

By Brian Rock

Genre bending singer songwriter Sean Devine returns for his fourth album, Here For It All. Combining country and folk arrangements with just a subtle touch of rock influence, Devine sings about the highs and lows of life.

The title track starts off with dueling, uptempo electric and acoustic guitars as Devine sings, “It’s been a long wait and it feels like fate. You showed up in my life. Doesn’t feel quite real, but it sure feels right.” Recalling the ups and downs of relationships, he sings of the glorious uncertainty of love’s first steps. Not flinching from the heartache that love sometimes brings, Devine sings, “Day turned to night and nothing felt right. There were some papers I had to sign. The end of my world on an empty line.” But with kids to feed and life still to live, he soldiers on until that moment when, “I see your face in that far off place and it’s where I want to be. I’ll get to you if I have to crawl. Here for it all.” Somehow strengthened through the furnace of love’s fire, Devine’s heart is ready to open again. The buoyant rhythms and rollicking piano help remind us that as painful as heartbreak is, it makes the discovery of new love that more rapturous.

“Crazy Too,” emphasizes Devine’s country side with slide guitar accents as he sings of the crazy joy of falling in love. “Clay Bluffs” continues the country focus with a more traditional theme of shattered dreams, encompassed in the line, “It ain’t a wasteland, just a sad land of people getting by.” Devine goes old school country with the musical history lesson, “Texas and Tennessee.” “Feelin’ Like An Old Piece Of Wood,” mixes country with Piedmont blues to contemplate the effects of resisting change.

Part Jason Isbell and part Rich Krueger, Devine’s voice is perfectly suited to straddle the line between country and folk. He makes that seamless transition to folk on “I’m Free.” “The Palomino Mustang,” combines country and folk in an extended metaphor for roping horses and roping love. Singing, “The catches make the money, but the misses make the man,” he celebrates the pursuit of love as much as love itself. “You Ain’t Coming Home,” is more direct in its expression of heartbreak. “Can I Get A Witness,” captures a Marshall Tucker feel to encourage us to find the silver lining even when we’re in the middle of life’s tribulations.

Whether singing about love or its dismal departure, Devine maintains a spirit of wonder and optimism. Like the title track expresses, it’s life’s lows that make the highs so sweet. With melodic rhythms and clever lyrics, Devine reminds us that if you want to really experience life to the fullest, you have to be “Here For It All.”

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