On his new album, Violescent, KP Devlin ventures into new territory. Taking his penchant for blending different music forms, here he has blended the sounds of early music (hurdy gurdy, krumhorns, viola da gamba) as well as Celtic and Norwegian fiddles and Irish bagpipes into the mix, along with a rock solid core band, consisting of drums, upright bass and guitars. It's certainly not the first time classical and rock music have been skillfully blended, but it works here very well, and is certainly a standout album for Devlin. The songs here are superb, without a weak link among them. Ranging from the infectious, anthemic "Skirting the Outskirts" to the soaring, sea-faring tale of sadness, suicide and apocalypse, called "Elodine." Another standout track is "Coming Home," which features the hurdy gurdy, strings and krumhorns, and is quite possibly the most romantic, sweet song Devlin has ever written. The album's closing tune, "Northern Lights," with it's pizzicato strings and gorgeous uilleann pipe solo is a magical finish to what amounts to an epic journey through a strange, beautiful (and at times horrific) landscape. With its cast of unusual characters, images of dramatic, saturated skies, religious allegory, and the sonic presence of hurdy gurdy and other early music instruments, it's almost like experiencing a Hieronymous Bosch painting set to music. In addition to his long-time collaborators, Adam Armstrong on upright bass, Andrew Carillo on electric guitars and mandolin, Sammy Merendino on drums, Kieran O'Hare on uilleann pipes and tin whistle and Liz Knowles (who wrote all the string and woodwind arrangements) on fiddle and hardingfele, Devlin is joined here by Eric Bazilian on hurdy gurdy and electric guitars. Rounding out the early music side of things, Christa Patton plays krumhorns and Elizabeth Weinfield plays viola da gamba. You'll also hear harmony vocals by Sarah Bonsignore and Amanda Thorpe, and some textural keyboard work (predominantly on the album's opening track, "A Glow Over Halifax") by Robin Danderkindt.