No Devotion
No Devotion are a Welsh-American alternative rock band formed in 2014. They are composed of American vocalist Geoff Rickly from New Jersey, and former band members of the Welsh band Lostprophets. The band formed in the wake of Lostprophets' dissolution in 2013.
The band have released four singles; "Stay", "10,000 Summers", "Addition", and "Permanent Sunlight" and released their debut album, Permanence, produced by Dave Fridmann in 2015. Earlier that year drummer Luke Johnson officially left the band. Philip Jenkins, former drummer of Kids in Glass Houses, subsequently began performing as the band's live drummer.
After a short hiatus from the band with nothing announced, lead guitarist Lee Gaze confirmed on Twitter that a second album is due for release possibly in late 2019. He also confirmed that keys/synth player Jamie Oliver had left the band and that while rhythm guitarist Mike Lewis didn't perform any recordings for the album, he is still part of the band.
History
Formation and Johnson's departure (2014–15)
The band formed sometime in April 2014 only a few months after Lostprophets broke up. Stuart Richardson stated in 2019 that them going straight into a new band immediately was a deliberate choice so they could sever themselves from being associated with Ian Watkins. After days of rumors, it was confirmed by ex-Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly in an interview on Radio Cardiff that he would be working with the remaining Lostprophets members on their new project through his own label, Collect Records, and described their new music as being influenced by Joy Division, New Order, and The Cure, although he did not confirm that he was going to be joining the band.On 1 May 2014, it was announced that the former Lostprophets members would continue to make music with Rickly replacing the disgraced Watkins as their new vocalist, with Rickly saying that they "deserved a second chance." On 1 July, the band unveiled their début single "Stay", along with another song titled "Eyeshadow", as well as details of a short four-date tour taking place in Cardiff, Manchester, London, and Glasgow. Ahead of the first performances, the band confirmed that they would not continue playing music from the Lostprophets discography, referring to the songs as "tainted". The band's first live performances received positive reviews from critics and fans.
On 18 August 2014, No Devotion announced that they would be opening for Neon Trees on their First Things First tour. However, the tour was abruptly cancelled as a result of a significant heart surgery for Neon Trees bassist Brendan Graham.
On 6 October 2014, on the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show, Daniel P. Carter premiered the band's second single, "10,000 Summers", along with the b-side "Only Thing".
In late 2014, drummer Luke Johnson had left the band, feeling that he would be unable to fulfil commitments to the band. The decision was made in 2014 but was not made public until January 2015, with former Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong completing the recording of their first album, and Phil Jenkins of Kids in Glass Houses joining as a live member.
In January 2015, they embarked on their second UK tour, taking place in Bristol, Birmingham, Southampton, Reading, and London, supporting Gerard Way on three of the dates.
On 30 June, the band announced they would be releasing their first album, titled Permanence, in September, and released two songs titled "Death Rattle" and "Addition".
''Permanence'' (2015)
On 17 August 2015, their fourth single "Permanent Sunlight" was released. On 29 and 30 August they played at the Reading and Leeds Festival as part of their tour with Seether and Baroness, which included the live debut of the aforementioned song. On 27 August, the band announced further dates in Germany, the UK and US. Whilst in Germany, Rickly was drugged and robbed with that night's show then cancelled.On 21 September, they released their debut album Permanence on SoundCloud, four days before its official release. Four days later on September 25 Permanence received its official release to positive reviews. The album went on to win the 2016 Kerrang Album of the Year award.
On 17 November 2015, they released a music video for their single "Permanent Sunlight".
Hiatus and second album (2016 - present)
On August 2016, it was announced Geoff Rickly's former band, Thursday had reunited; however, in October 2018, Thursday announced their second breakup, which occurred in March 2019. At the time the future of No Devotion was unknown, following this however, members of the band confirmed that they were working on a follow up album to Permanence, to be released by the end of 2019. Although changes to the active line up of the band may have occurred due to the length of time between the two records. The members of the band confirmed to be working on the album include Geoff Rickly, Lee Gaze and Stuart Richardson, possibly meaning that Jamie Oliver and Mike Lewis have left the band.Oliver's departure was later confirmed by Lee Gaze, and he also clarified that while Lewis didn't perform any recordings on the upcoming record he is still a part of the band. It is currently unknown if Philip Jenkins is still involved with the band.
Stuart Richardson revealed in December 2019 that No Devotion had around 8 songs completed for their second album and plans for the album's release were still not yet finalised.
Styles and influences
Lead singer Geoff Rickly has described their music as reminiscent of bands such as The Cure, Joy Division and New Order. Fans have also noted a resemblance between the band name and the title of Thursday's final studio album, No Devolución.Band members
Current members- Geoff Rickly – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
- Lee Gaze – guitars, backing vocals
- Mike Lewis – guitars, backing vocals
- Stuart Richardson – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Luke Johnson – drums, percussion
- Jamie Oliver – keyboards, programming, vocals
- Philip Jenkins – drums, percussion
- Matt Tong – drums, percussion
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