Devlin McCluskey had been on a Sopranos kick that sent him down a music rabbit hole. Remember the episode where Christopher relapses, with carnival lights twinkling and Fred Neil’s song “The Dolphins” playing in the background? “That set off me obsessively listening to that song and then trying to find more songs that sounded like that,” McCluskey says on a recent video call from Cathedral City, where the formerly L.A.-based musician now lives.
That Sopranos needle drop prompted McCluskey, previously of The Dead Ships and now of Devlin and the Harm, to dig into more sounds of the 1960s and 1970s that were unfamiliar to him. There was “Something on Your Mind” from the bluesy singer Karen Dalton and Scott Walker’s “The Old Man Is Back Again” and playlists loaded with Donovan tunes. “I’m the kind of person who will listen to one song over and over and over or start my morning listening to one song every morning for months and months,” says McCluskey. That was the case here.
All of this seeps into Devlin and the Harm’s recently released, self-titled debut album. Opening with a hint of Ennio Morricone’s Old West on “Kingdom Comes,” the album hits a melancholic nerve and, while the music isn’t particularly retro, the sound throughout recalls some of the eeriness of 1960s and early 1970s productions.
McCluskey spent much of the 2010s as part The Dead Ships. Based in L.A., the band had created a buzz locally and even played Coachella in 2016. Two years after that, though, the band, to use McCluskey’s words, “faded away.” They didn’t officially break up, but members moved out of Los Angeles and McCluskey had to devote more time to his job as a video editor. Some Devlin and the Harm songs date back to this period of time, but it would take a good while to get the new project off the ground.
Eventually, McCluskey teamed up with drummer Mike Nussbaum, who had played in multiple bands that shared concert bills with The Dead Ships. McCluskey had amassed a bunch of songs that the two could record. Plus, he was still in contact with producer Alex Newport, who had mixed The Dead Ships’ album Citycide. Their first recording session was a success, so they decided to keep going with the project.
But, there were setbacks. Nussbaum was injured in a paragliding accident. “It was really scary, but he’s okay, he’s fully recovered,” says McCluskey. Meanwhile, McCluskey was traveling back and forth between California and Illinois to help out his parents while his father, who passed away last year, was ill.
Ultimately, though, Devlin and the Harm were able to finish the album in three recording sessions that took place over the course of two-and-a-half years. Joining the core trio of collaborators was a host of musicians, including singer Claire McKeown (Honey Child), guitarist and bassist Brady Erickson and trumpeters Takazo and Kaizo Hall, as well as Try Guy Keith Habersberger on French horn.
“I think originally we were like, is this a solo project?”McCluskey says. In the end, the singer and guitarist wasn’t so interested in releasing the music under his name alone. “That felt so weird because of all these contributions from other people. When I listen to one of the songs, I hear all of the incredible playing from the other people and the ideas that they brought. It just didn’t feel like a solo project.”
Through this group endeavor, McCluskey was able to make an album that is very personal. “I hope that other people are into it,” he says, “but really the goal was to make something better than the demos, so that I could listen to it and enjoy it and send it to people that I know and be like listen to this cool thing that I’m working on.”
Devlin and the Harm’s self-titled debut album is out now. A record release show is scheduled for Thursday, July 2, at Permanent Records Roadhouse in Los Angeles.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Follow on Instagram or sign up for the weekly, Beatique newsletter for updates on new stories and gigs.
Listen to the May 2026 edition of Beatique, featuring music from Sextile, Fcukers, Kneecap, Dry Cleaning, Fontaines D.C. and more.
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