We gotta start a band so we can get out of Ohio! This week’s guest on Discover New Music is Jeremy DePoyster of The Devil Wears Prada. The tone of the band’s ninth studio album “Flowers” is immediately set by the open track “Where the Flowers Never Grow” and takes the listener on a “Dantes Inferno”-esque descent to the bottom and then climb back out. We also get a look into the sound mindset the band was going for throughout the entire three year process of making the record. Plus, DePoyster talks 20 years of DWP and what the milestone means to him and the band…and hopefully a ride that never ends! As always, a quick round of Rapid Fire is played…and getting punched in the face sucks!
The Devil Wears Prada have always explored life’s extremes in their music. They’ve never shied away from staring down darkness, dealing with depression, making sense of confusion, soothing anxiety, or grappling with faith, existence, and death. At the same time, they’ve mirrored life’s ups and downs by alternating between crushing heaviness and heart-wrenching melodies. It’s been that way since the beginning.
Among a string of seminal releases, Revolver readers named With Roots Above and Branches Below [2009] one of the “5 Greatest Metalcore Albums,” the Zombie EP [2010] and Dead Throne [2011] each debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. They have also tallied nearly a half-a-billion streams—unprecedented for most acts this heavy. The group elevated to another stratosphere with 2022’s Color Decay, selling out their biggest shows worldwide and receiving some of the highest praise of their career. All of this time and experience ultimately empowered the group—Mike Hranica [vocals], Jeremy DePoyster [guitar, vocals], Kyle Sipress [guitar], Jonathan Gering [keys, synths, programming, percussion], and Giuseppe Capolupo [drums]—to make a statement on their ninth full-length offering, Flowers [Solid State]. Matching bold themes with equally bold songs, they process grief, weather struggle, and not only heal together, but creatively blossom like never before.
20 years deep into their career together, their creativity has surged to life on Flowers though, representing perhaps their most significant creative leap forward yet. Fans immediately reacted too as The Devil Wears Prada heralded the album with “Ritual” and “For You,” reeling in tens of millions of streams, thousands of radio spins, and stoking anticipation. Ominous bass rumbles straight through the band’s new radio single, “Everybody Knows” until a clean electric guitar uplifts another chant, “I can’t get back. Gotta find another path. Maybe this will finally take me home.” Jeremy reveals. “You’ve had too many drinks. You try keeping it together, but your anxiety is making you feel like everybody knows you’re out of control.”
Flowers is The Devil Wears Prada at their most honest, heartfelt, and here in the moment.
