Calling the music a darker shade of blues is the perfect tagline for what Ralph Beeby & the Elephant Collective do, and “Devil on my Shoulder” is him and his musical posse doing what they do brilliantly. Blues has always had an intoxicating relationship with that titular creature, and this shadow dance with old Nick gets to the heart of what the genre is all about – raw emotion and midnight pacts, hearts being worn on sleeves and soul-stealing seduction.
But musically, it’s where things get really interesting: a heady blend of Johnny Cash’s classic, dark country sound, especially via those early country-rock and roll beats that echo through and drive the song, and no small amount of Nick Cave’s apocalyptic blues, searing slide guitar, and ragged, Waitsian vibes.
It’s a heartstopping run through that liminal collision point where blues and country and gothic sounds all dance in a frenzied daze across a blighted and blasted part of the musical map, “Devil on my Shoulder” feels as if it should have been in the soundtrack of 2025’s movie of the year, Sinners, that perfect sound-blend of history and historionics. (If there is a sequel, then they know who to call!)
Like all blues, at least that worthy of the name, “Devil on my Shoulder” sounds more like a ritual than a song, a shamanic rite seeking to exhume or exorcise, bind or banish, it’s blues getting right back to its voodoo heart and tormented birth. And it’s flippin’ brilliant!
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