Sam and Louise Sullivan Make This Decade's 'Tusk' on 'Love & Devotion'
Sam and Louise Sullivan will tell you they’re not trying to sound homemade — they’re just trying to get it to sound good, “weird means” and all. On Love & Devotion, out via the tiny Historic New Jersey label, that philosophy produces one of the most purely charming folk records of the year: a family band record where the song is the only thing that matters and the recording is whatever it needs to be.
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: Producer Kevin Basko (Rubber Band Gun) and drummer Jem Seidel build rhythm out of found-object percussion — coffee cans, exercise balls — that gives the low end a lopsided, human clatter no drum machine could fake.
The Spatial Dynamics: Synths drift in and out around the folk core, and the arrangements pull from Irish folk, mid-2010s rap, merengue, and Afrobeat without ever feeling like a mood board. It just sounds like two people following a song wherever it wants to go.
Standout Performance
Emily Moales of Star Moles adds texture throughout, but the record belongs to the Sullivans’ unfussy, plainspoken vocal chemistry — the sound of two songwriters who’ve decided the recording is secondary to the truth of the song.
Why It’s Certified
Reviewers keep reaching for Tusk and Richard Thompson’s Shoot Out the Lights to describe this record, and the comparisons hold: ambitious, homemade, unwilling to smooth itself out for anyone. Two high school teachers and ceramicists made a folk record with the confidence of lifers, and Jeff Tweedy’s endorsement is just confirmation of what’s obvious on first listen. Certified great.