Rocky Votolato: True Devotion (2010)

New Wax


Set for a February 23rd release date via Barsuk, True Devotion, the sixth full-length studio album from Texas-born, ex-Waxwing singer Rocky Votolato extends his pension for the country-tinged, soul-baring fare established on his last two albums, Makers and The Brag & Cuss. After years of touring, Votolato's private bout with depression and anxiety became overwhelming and he, for all intents and purposes, became a recluse. After spending a year holed up in his apartment studying existential philosophy, history, theology, and physics, Votolato's songwriting muse finally returned and True Devotion materialized. While tapped into the same sonic vein as his last few albums, the songs on True Devotion are more pared down and mostly acoustic. Thematically, Votolato tackles self-doubt, mortality, and life on the road. Votolato, a married man with two children, sounds road-weary and homesick on "Instrument" as he belts out: "Just wanna come back home to you again/ 'Cause I just wanna be free." Votolato's words are often understated yet loaded and he delivers them with the authenticity of a man privy to both the darkness and light. He muses on the finite nature of life on "Sparklers" when he sings" Sparklers only burn for so long," but elsewhere he sounds enlightened, hopeful, and very much in love with the woman he's chosen to build a life with. True Devotion, like life, is a mixed bag of emotions, and Votolato tackles that subject matter with a measure of honesty often unparalleled by other songwriters. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Rocky Votolato - Red River
MP3: Rocky Votolato - Sparklers

Tags: Rocky Votolato, True Devotion