Thematically balancing beauty and violence, L.A.-based alt-rocker DEVON THOMPSON’s upcoming EP Skin (out on March 29, 2024 via Exquisite Feline) keeps both in check, finding equity in pleasure and pain. “Skin is delicate, yet so tough,” she explains, examining the title of her EP. “You can prick parts of our bodies with a needle and not feel much pain. But others, you’ll bleed instantly.” Exploring the darker reaches of alt-rock with her pristine sense of melody in check, Thompson pulls together a fascinating pastiche of post-punk and gothic tendencies and matches it with a nimble knowledge of rhythm and melody, drawing a capable comparison to the resilient tenderness of flesh.

Upcoming Shows include:

Her EP release show is at Gibson Showroom 3/28, doors at 8pm. Tickets HERE
April 11th– JT Presents at The Venice West in Los Angeles. Tickets HERE
April 28 – Feminine Energy at The Bourbon Room in Los Angeles

“When it comes to me, and anything related to songwriting, you know I can’t resist a storyline with a little beauty, a little pain, and a little depravity of morality. That’s what my EP “Skin” is, a collection of raw emotions. Many which are based on these fictional dark fairytales that I write or rewrite. They all stem from something that has actually happened in my life, but I love writing in a storybook type of way because I think it’s just so poetic. This is kinda my debut ep and I really wanted people to see all the different colors of my emotional and emotionless personality. 

These songs were all done over the course of a year, “She’s The Devil” coming first and “Straitjacket”coming last. I thought about doing it in that order, but having “Straitjacket” as the opener just made sense to me. This was a hard time emotionally for me, dealing with mental health issues and the stress of figuring out what my music means to me. As the year of writing went on, I think I started to become a little feral and that’s when I wrote “Straitjacket”.

It’s my favorite song if you can’t tell. Being that the EP is a mix of Alternative, Rock, Indie, and Pop, it caters to a broader audience. However I think the real understanding comes from the people who resonate with the lyrics. I’ve always been drawn towards darker things, with lighter sounds to accompany it. There’s something so sarcastic about it, and that’s basically my personality as a whole. So this EP is basically just my personality, you don’t even need to meet me to get to know me. I am very proud though, and I think this has really inspired me to get more experimental and dirty with my songwriting moving forward. It is only the beginning of a “beautiful disaster” as 311 says.”