It has been a big year for Rebecca Vernon. After the triumphant return of SubRosa earlier this year at Fire in the Mountains, she is back with the second album as The Keening, Devotion. Those familiar with either SubRosa or The Keening's first album know what to sonically expect here: a rich tapestry of sound that weaves together folk, gothic rock, and slow-building doom. That the sound of this record doesn't diverge much from Vernon's past work is definitely not a complaint - On Devotion, Vernon uses her considerable talents on seven beautiful and crushing tracks that wrenchingly explore the beauty and sadness of love and loss. 

Vernon wrote Devotion in two primary locations, a cabin in a deserted Idaho ski resort and senior living community in Spokane, Washington, where she was staying with her father. She said that while living with her father, she would work on her music for most of the day, then join him and the other residents for dinner in the dining room. All of residents, she said, were very supportive of her work on the album. That background is helpful to understanding this collection of songs, which are sad and wounded but also hopeful. Many of the lyrics deal with isolation and loneliness, but offer paths out of the darkness. At no point on the album is this more clear than on "A Little Bit of Blood," the album's first single and centerpiece song. On it, Vernon sings: "You drew a little bit of blood to show me / Just a little bit of blood to make me see / It took a little bit of blood to wake me / Just a little wound in the night to free me". 

These lyrics point to someone helping Vernon through a challenging time, guiding her through an experience that is painful and wounding. She doesn't come through it unscathed, but she comes through it alive. We all face challenges and sometimes the best way through is the most painful, but the only choice to avoid pain is to not move forward at all.

Rebecca Vernon's father, who she called one of her greatest champions and supporters, died in May 2025. The pain of that loss is all over this record, but even in recognizing that pain, Vernon acknowledges that the only choice is to move forward. "All your science fails me / Since time travel's not in the cards / All your answers fail me / Since rivers only flow one way," she sings on "Time Travel."

In 2024, Vernon talked to Decibel Magazine about heavy music's increasing movement towards more emotionally honest topics. "Metal is beginning to share more vulnerable things, more confessional things," she said. "Metal has almost become a safe space to talk about those things. People are being open with their struggles." That attitude permeates Devotion, and sonically the music has a similar feel. Like our own emotions, the seven tracks grow and swell, ebb and flow, building from moments of quiet reflection to cathartic release. It is layered and gorgeous, with the band's trademark mix of strings (cello, violin, viola, and harp), piano, organ, horns, alongside Vernon's vocals and the traditional rock instrumentation of guitar and drums. Vernon played most of the instruments on the album herself, along with some heavy-hitting guest musicians from bands like Giant Squid, Exulansis, Shears, and Dreadnought. 

Devotion feels designed to be listened to in one sitting - the first four tracks are titled "Devotion I - Golden Thread," "Devotion II - Fitful Sleep," "Devotion III - The King," and Devotion IV - O Mother," - which does make the album work better as more of a cohesive mood piece other than a collection of songs. Other than "A Little Bit of Blood," which is a lock for whatever best songs of the year list I ultimately decide to do, there aren't any tracks on Devotion that I'll be popping onto random playlists. But that's okay and not what this album was designed to do. With Devotion, you sit down, put it on, and venture into Vernon's world of beautiful struggle. The cover art actually sums it up quite well. It shows a robin, looking proud and noble despite sitting in a nest of thorns that are piercing its breast and drawing blood. There is dignity and even peace to be found by accepting our pain. 

The Keening's Devotion is out Friday, October 16 via Relapse Records.