After five years in the making, Irish singer-songwriter Janet Devlin is ready to reveal her sensational new album ‘Confessional’, which will be released alongside her autobiography ‘My Confessional’, published by Omnibus Press, on June 5th.
This upcoming dual release is set to be a brave & personal one for Janet, by allowing listeners & readers to experience an insight into the challenges & struggles she has faced during the past decade.
Janet has kindly taken the time to speak with Fierce & Fabulous Revolution about her upcoming releases & you can read what she had to say below.
Hey Janet, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Could you start by telling the readers a little bit about yourself?
Janet: I never know why but I find it so hard to aha! I’m a singer-songwriter and content creator from Northern Ireland and I’ve been in the industry for almost 10 years (terrifying concept!). A bit of a nutcase BUT somehow pretty laid back!
When did you first discover your passion for music?
Janet: I’d say it was pretty early on. I started playing tin whistle at the age of 5 and joined a ceilidh pretty soon after. When I think about my childhood, all my happiest memories revolve around music. My grandmother would pick me up from school and I’d sing her little songs I’d written in my head. Never in a million years could I have imagined that I’d be doing it full time as an adult.
How would you describe your musical style to someone unfamiliar with your music?
Janet: I would have to say pop-folk with Celtic roots! Which I’m not too sure whether or not that’s a real genre but it should be! Since the lyrics are pretty honest maybe “over-sharing pop-folk” aha!
You are about to release your album ‘Confessional’ on June 5th. How did the idea to create this album come together?
Janet: Well, I always knew that a second album would be on the cards when I finished my first. But this record took an incredibly long time to come about. One reason being I had to get sober first! Around six months into recovery, the pieces of the puzzle for this album started to come together. Since I was becoming more honest in my personal life, it started to seep into my music too.
How would you compare the creative process behind the album, to your previous releases?
Janet: This was a much more intense process. I ended up having to write 3-4 songs for each topic in the book. I needed to have an up-tempo, ballad and middle of the road track to ensure that the album could still have a good journey. This meant a lot of very intensive sessions trying to come up with different metaphors and approaches for the same topic. It was hard work but so much fun to take a challenge like that on.
What does this album personally mean to you?
Janet: Oh gosh! It means more to me than any other project I’ve ever worked on. Essentially, this album is my life in sonic form. I don’t think I’ve ever put so much of myself into anything before. So it really holds a different sort of weight to me.
What message would you like listeners to take away from your album?
Janet: Either “Honesty is the best policy” or “That it all works out in the end”.
Alongside your album, you will be releasing your autobiography. How did the idea to write this come together?
Janet: What I really wanted was for my album to be 100% honest. But when I realised that it may isolate listeners, I opted for a much more metaphorical approach to the writing. I still wanted to be honest and share my truth so that’s how the book idea came about. So I ended up writing a chapter for each track on the album. Each chapter explains the true story behind the song. No one warned me how hard it is to write a book though! So it took quite a long time to write, edit and get it to a place where I was completely happy.
What does it mean to you to be releasing your autobiography?
Janet: It means that I can start living my truth now. I can actually talk about the events and issues I have that have truly shaped me as a person. So far it’s been an incredibly freeing process to be able to talk about a few of the topics. So I can only imagine how freeing it will be when the album and book are finally out there for everyone to see.
What inspired you to release the album & book alongside each other?
Janet: I just always loved the idea that you could sit down with the book and album, listen to a song and then read the chapter about it. I think that’s what’s so fun about this concept. You get to choose whether or not you want the truth. You can sit down, listen to a song and adapt your own meaning to it. Then if you choose to, you can know the story behind it.
What is the best piece of advice someone has given you about pursuing a career in music?
Janet: “We’re not saving lives, we’re making music!” – sometimes it’s just so easy to get caught up in the stress of it all, that we forget that we should just be having fun making art!
Finally, is there anything you would like to say to the readers of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution?
Janet: Just that I hope everyone is safe, well and looking after themselves in these truly trying times!
You can pre-order the album & autobiography by clicking here.
Website: https://www.janetdevlin.com/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/thejanetdevlin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janetdevlinofficial/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JanetJealousy
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