Devon after dark: Finding light in the quiet
The musician spoke to us about the late-night honesty behind his new mixtape, reflecting on creativity, connection, and the calm that brings it all to life.
Photo: Press
Fresh from supporting McFly on their summer shows, Devon is now stepping into his own headline tour this November. The thrill of performing on large outdoor stages, singing to thousands of fans, stands in stark contrast to the quiet, introspective hours of when his latest project, WHEN THE WORLD GOES QUIET, was born.
“I think I can only really lock in when everything else has stopped,” he says, reflecting on his creative process. “The house, the street, even the birds — it all goes silent. That’s when ideas start to come through.”
It’s in that silence that the mixtape finds its voice. Blending acoustic warmth with textured synths, it unfolds as a deeply personal soundscape that feels intimate, emotional, and unmistakably human.
Much of that emotional depth stems from the way Devon writes. His songs are shaped by reflection, by sitting with feelings long enough to understand them. “I can’t really write while something’s happening,” he explains. “I have to look back on it with a clear vision.”
Fans will know that his previous mixtape traced the fallout of a breakup, capturing the ache of loss and the slow process of letting go. This time, the lens turns inward. “It’s about the person I want to be — the yearning for something more,” he says. “That longing has been a theme in everything I’ve made lately.”
That yearning reaches its most vulnerable point on THIS IS WHERE IM GOING TO DIE, a track that feels less like a performance and more like a confession. “It feels almost like a diary entry,” Devon says. “Except this time, people get to read it.” As he sings, “Loved ones look like ants, they are so far ahead. Maybe life’s got me on the ropes again,” the song captures the quiet ache of watching life move forward while you’re still trying to catch up.
The emotional weight then shifts to KGL. On the track, Devon trades vulnerability for confrontation, wrestling with exhaustion and the numbing pull of distraction. “Can we wake up? Because I can’t breathe,” he pleads, before admitting, “I’m giving up the real estate / To quick-fix daily highs that do not even seem to satiate.” It’s a song about avoidance — the ways we try to escape ourselves, and the moment that escape stops working. There’s a tension here, a sense of spiralling, as if the clarity he’s chasing keeps slipping just out of reach.
It’s that same restless energy that pulses through PEER PRESSURE, one of the last songs written for the mixtape. “It wasn’t even supposed to be on there,” he says. “But we loved it. One of the older tracks got taken off because it didn’t quite fit sonically.” The song ties together the record’s emotional threads, capturing the push and pull between self-awareness and surrender. “It ended up being the missing piece,” Devon says.
Then comes SCREWS, one of the mixtape’s standout moments. What began as an ode to a single friendship soon grew into something broader. “It was originally about a friend I dated briefly,” Devon recalls. “We knew it wasn’t meant to be that way, but we cared about each other so much [that] we stayed in each other’s lives. It became a song about every friend who’s been there for me through rough times.”
These lyrics are among his most vulnerable: “Blowing up her line again / Trying to fill space inside my mind and then / Digging my own grave with every thought and lie.” Later, he sings, “I bet you must have lost a couple of screws / To stand by something that is bad for you.” It’s a moment of reckoning, but also one of quiet gratitude for the people who stay, even when you’re not easy to stay with.
Ending the mixtape with SCREWS was a deliberate choice. “There’s a loose storyline through it all,” Devon says. “It starts with me being on my own and ends with me falling into my friends after a breakdown. It just felt right to close on something that felt like home.” That sense of resolution, of finding comfort in connection, gives the mixtape its emotional landing.
For Devon, that feeling of home isn’t confined to the people around him, it’s embedded in how he creates. His process is instinctive, guided more by emotion than structure. “I always engage with how something makes me feel,” he says. “It’s not even about the lyrics at first. It’s about the melody, the mood. That’s what drives everything.” The result is a body of work that feels lived-in, intuitive, and deeply personal.
Translating that intimacy to the stage doesn’t worry him. “Even though the mixtape has electronic drums and 80s textures, it becomes something else on stage — louder, fuller, more alive. I like that people can experience a different version of the same songs.” Performing with close friends adds another layer of connection. “It’s not just about recreating the tracks,” he says. “It’s about energy. The live kit, the guitars — it all makes the songs feel more real.”
For Devon, creating remains both cathartic and necessary. “I feel lucky to have art as an outlet,” he says. “It’s like a void I can shout into — a way to say what I can’t always say out loud.”
Whether you’re hearing it for the first time upon its release later this month, or catching it live on his upcoming tour, WHEN THE WORLD GOES QUIET invites you to lean in. And, if you can, listen late at night. That’s when it feels most at home.
WHEN THE WORLD GOES QUIET is out October 24th.
