Devon Welsh, has shared a new track from his upcoming sophomore solo album True Love, out October 11 on his own record label. The former Majical Cloudz frontman, heads out on tour in early November, dates include Chicago, New York, Boston, and more.

“As you get older, love becomes so much stranger than the childhood fantasy versions of yearning and desire,” Welsh says. “Romance can be such a scary thing because there’s so much trust involved – sitting with uncertainties and reservations, taking a longer look at emotions, trying to understand them. But there’s a deepening of love, which is the energy that holds people together.”

Through the process of True Love, Welsh also found himself reflecting on our culture’s rigid notions of manhood and masculinity, and how they’re implicated in love of all kinds. “The male stereotype is that you’re not supposed to cry, you’re supposed to be strong and confident and powerful,” he says. “That feeds into a masculine identity where you can’t look inward and figure out: Who am I that’s distinct from that?”

With his characteristic openness, Welsh admits that the echo chamber of being an artist online had also become wearying in Majical Cloudz. He struggled with a loss of identity, and it left him with a deep skepticism towards the music industry. But he calls his move into self-releasing his music more natural and emboldening. “I’m just trying to express things that feel intimate and worthwhile, but leaving it a little bit with a question mark,” Welsh says. In an era of widespread burnout, it feels radical and hopeful to see an artist reckon with these realities and find a personal path forward – and in his songs, a disarmingly clear sense of self.

Tour Dates
11/2: Chicago, IL @ Hideout^
11/3: Bloomington, IN @ Bishop^
11/4: Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR^
11/5: Atlanta, GA @ The Bakery^
11/7: Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong^
11/8: Philadelphia, PA @ Pageant: Soloveev^
11/9: New York, NY @ Public Records^
11/10: Boston, MA @ Lily Pad^
11/14: Seattle, WA @ Auditorium*
11/16: Vancouver, BC @ Paradise*
11/17: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios*
11/20: Oakland, CA @ Crystal Cavern*
11/21: Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg*
11/22: Santa Cruz, CA @ Crepe Place*

^w/ Abandon
*w/ Sorry Girls