New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The rising singer-songwriter and multi- instrumentalist Devon Gilfillian announced his second full-length studio album, Love You Anyway, available on April 7, 2023, via Fantasy Records. An intoxicating, genre-crossing game changer, Love You Anyway spans soul, hip-hop, R&B, and rock, all under the banner of
Black joy. The Philadelphia-born, Nashville-based soul artist also debuted a sinuous and seductive new single, "All I Really Wanna Do," along with the track's accompanying interstellar-inspired animated video that finds Devon traveling through a love-induced galaxy of his own making.
Produced by Jeremy Lutito (Joy Oladokun, NEEDTOBREATHE), Love You Anyway, confronts as well as comforts. Chronicling Gilfillian's journey as a
Black artist living in 21stcentury America, the album's 10 original tracks, (all co-written by Gilfillian) are as much about fighting for what you believe in: equity and representation, as it is about love, finding it, making it, and channeling it into every facet of our lives.
Devon Gilfillian on the new album and single: "I wanted to share my story on this album and pour a whole lot of love into the gap that's grown between people in our country. "All I Really Wanna Do" is an anthem for living in the moment. It's a song about taking a chance on love, on life, and on exploring yourself. It's about being weird with the one you love and knowing that being yourself is enough. I want people to listen to this song and forget - even for a second - the sad things going on around the world. I want them to be reminded of the beauty and joy we have around us, as long as we're looking and open to receive."
The recording of Love You Anyway began during the pandemic, as the nation's political chasm widened, leading Gilfillian to rely on a few simple resources: the music of Marvin Gaye, new love, therapy, and his beloved cats,
Barry White and Felicia.
Summoning an array of musical touchstones amid a rush of unexpected ear-catching twists and turns, Love You Anyway is as listenable as it is thought-provoking. The elegant, "All I Really Wanna Do," is the LP's alluring Temps-infused opening invitation. In quick succession, soulful provocateurs, "The Recipe," and "Right Kind of Crazy," wrap around"Brown Sugar Queen," a
Prince x
Anderson Paak super-sized jam that features rising Swedish pop star Janice. Elsewhere, "Better Broken" evokes Bill Withers' slinky gift for melody, the spiritual "Let The Water Flow," reaffirms Georgia's political awakening, and "Righteous," (featuring new labelmate
Nathaniel Rateliff) takes an unblinking look at racial injustice in America. Lastly, on "Love You Anyway," the open-hearted and transcendent end-title track, Gilfillian captures the raw power and beauty of acceptance.
Growing up in Philadelphia, Gilfillian discovered that the towering icons of his musician father's era—Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, The Temptations—were just as formative and exciting as discovering the new sounds of his own generation: Wu-Tang Clan, Notorious B.I.G., and Jay-Z, who all inspired him in different ways. Bursting on the scene in 2020 with his highly regarded debut album
Black Hole Rainbow, he received glowing acclaim from NPR, the New York Times, PASTE and The Tennessean, among many others. Then later that year, Gilfillian re-recorded and released Marvin Gaye's iconic album, What's Going On, which raised funds for low-income communities of color, and provided resources and education around the democratic process.
Now, with Love You Anyway, Devon Gilfillian pays it forward. Conjuring the raw, sexy emotions of his predecessors and the next-level production grooves of his R&B and hip-hop contemporaries, Gilfillian is taking soul music into an exciting and restorative new future.
Devon Gilfillian - Love You Anyway TRACK LIST:
1. All I Really Wanna Do
2. The Recipe
3. Brown Sugar
Queen (feat. Janice)
4. Right Kind Of Crazy
5. Let The Water Flow
6. Imma Let My Body Move
7. Better Broken
8. Follow The Leader
9. Righteous (feat.
Nathaniel Rateliff)
10. Piano (Interlude)
11. Love You Anyway
Devon Gilfillian On Tour:
FEB 10 -17 - Miami, FL - Cayamo Cruise
MAR 13 -19 - Austin, TX - SXSW
APR 17 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge (album release show)
JUN 17 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
More dates to be announced soon!
