Review by Lydia Evans for MPM
Amigo the Devil has released his latest album, Yours Until the War is Over, on 23rd February 2024. Amigo the Devil is Danny Kiranos, an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and banjo player from Miami, Florida.
His music is described as “murderfolk” – influenced by folk, country,and heavy metal, he fuses dark themes with country sounds and creates something unique.
This release follows his previous album, Born Against, released in 2021. Yours Until the War is Over is a 13 track album with a strong focus on story-telling with his lyrics; he sets a scene and takes you to another world when you listen.
It feels like an intimate album, telling the stories and music right to you. It’s very stripped down in the instrumentals, therefore helping us focus on the vocals, guitars and banjo.
The first track Hanging by the Roots immerses you with a cinematic feeling; it sounds like an old Western film. “Dark Folk” is really the best way to describe it. This track gives me a similar feel to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Red Right Hand”.
It’s All Gone is a more upbeat song showing off the country influence, while I’m Going to Heaven has more of a rock influence. Amigo the Devil’s voice perfectly complements the music and he tells a story – it reminds me of listening to music in an American western tavern.
The Mechanic is an acoustic ballad with softer instrumentals. Amigo’s voice is pleasant to listen to and it never gets lost in the music. Once Upon a Time in Texaco Pt 1, one of the album’s singles, has impressive banjo with guitar accompaniment.
Barrel and Staghorn is a short yet interesting track: you hear static, a phone ringing, and other eerie background noises with guitar and banjo playing in the foreground. This is a nice track to place in the middle of the tracklist to add dynamic when you’re listening all the way through.
Agnes is another song with that element of spookiness and brings the genre “murderfolk” to life. The following tracks, Cannibal Within and Garden of Leaving, have catchy riffs that don’t upstage Amigo’s rumbling voice and lyrical intellect. Virtue and Vitriol shows off the dark wisdom of his lyrics with lines such as “when the grave digger reaches to bury my body, there’s nothing you’ve left to put in”. I like how every song really held my attention; I was hanging onto the words being sung and spoken.
One Day at a Time is a little lighter and upbeat, beginning with the sound of laughter before breaking into an acoustic country song. But the stand-out track to me is Stray Dog. It’s a little heavier and reminds me more of country rock with a rock and roll swagger to it.
It shows off Amigo’s vocal range. His voice is so clear to listen to, you can hear and enjoy every word he says. Personally, this track has the most mainstream appeal, so depending on your taste, this might also be your favourite.
The album finishes with Closer, a monologue spoken over gentle instrumentals. The theme of keeping the music more in the background so his voice and words can shine through is kept even with speaking.
It’s introspective and thoughtful, reading like a poem. It’s a good choice to end the album with, as it will keep you thinking. With the words “closer, come here” being repeated and ending with “it never ends, even when it does, it never ends”, it really ties together the emotional yet dark theme of the album. This is a very cohesive album; Amigo the Devil has a sound.
While he is dynamic, he’s consistent in sound which makes the album balanced. Amigo the Devil is currently touring the United States with Flogging Molly and will be touring Australia in April
CONNECT WITH AMIGO THE DEVIL Bio Link: https://ffm.bio/amigothedevil Website: https://www.amigothedevil.com/ Store: https://store.liarsclubrecords.com/ Tour Dates: https://www.amigothedevil.com/tour Instagram: / amigothedevil Facebook: / amigothedevil Twitter: / amigothedevil TikTok: / amigothedevilofficial
