Cursive, Devourer
Few artists endure for decades, and for the ones who do, it’s easy to settle down and get comfortable. But there’s nothing comfortable about Devourer (Run for Cover Records, September 13), the explosive new album by iconic Omaha band Cursive.
The group remains as restless as ever, even after three full decades together. In a discography known for exploring uncomfortable places, Devourer has some of Cursive’s most pointed observations yet.
It began with a simple self-revelation by frontman Tim Kasher.
“I am obsessive about consuming the arts,” he says. “Music, film, literature. I’ve come to recognize that I devour all of these art forms then, in turn, create my own versions of these things and spew them out onto the world.
“It’s positive; you’re part of an ecosystem. But I quickly recognized that it can be a gnarly, sinister term.”
And that’s where Devourer lives. Whether it’s resources, material goods, or art, the album’s characters have a bottomless capacity for consumption.
“Maybe a better word for it is imperialism,” Kasher says. “But it’s in many different forms. It’s not just the political. It’s personal imperialism and the imperialism of relationships, the way we imperialize one another, even ourselves.”
Fans have come to expect such heady topics from Cursive, whose albums favor intense, ambitious explorations of weighty themes. But Devourer sets a new standard.
Beginning with “Botch Job,” a propulsive banger shaking with anxiety, the album seldom relents. Songs like “The Avalanche of Our Demise,” “WTF,” “Bloodbather,” “Consumers,” and “The Age of Impotence” hit hard musically and thematically, hooking listeners with the abrasive catchiness Cursive does so well.
Even as songs like “Up and Away,” “Imposturing,” and “Dead End Days” lean more into poppier melodies, or “Dark Star” and “The Loss” tone down the intensity, the underlying disquiet remains. But as always, Cursive is here to wail, not wallow. As Kasher sings in “Bloodbather,” “Life’s an abscess or apple pie / So shut those demons up / And devour your slice.”
Wrangling it all is producer Marc Jacob Hudson, who ran front-of-house sound on Cursive’s recent tours. Hudson’s lengthy discography includes working with Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, and Saves the Day, among others, but the musical touchstones he shares with Cursive sealed the deal.
“We just got along well and had this kind of shared music history that I found so comforting,” Kasher says. “We were introduced to music in similar ways and, being the same age, share a musical knowledge. It was just so fun and refreshing.”
Now seven members strong—“We seem to be collecting band members over the years,” Kasher jokes—Cursive had a large musical toolbox to use on Devourer. Beyond the core of singer/guitarist Kasher, bassist Matt Maginn, guitarist/vocalist Ted Stevens, and drummer Clint Schnase, there’s keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Newbery, cellist Megan Siebe, and touring drummer Pat Oakes.
Oakes and Schnase trade drumming duties on Devourer, but join forces for a two-pronged percussive force in “Rookie.” Stevens and Newbery bring sitar to “The Avalanche of Our Demise.” Horns punctuate “WTF,” “Bloodbather,” “What Do We Do Now,” and “The Loss” (which recalls a New Orleans jazz funeral).
Devourer has a lot going on musically and thematically, unsurprising considering Kasher wrote an astounding 69 compositions after songwriting began in the fall of 2020. About 20 made it to the practice space, with 13 ending up on the album.
The question was who would release that album. Cursive had self-released its two previous albums on its label, 15 Passenger, after a long run with iconic Omaha label Saddle Creek Records. The band planned to release Devourer on 15 Passenger, but decided to put out some feelers as well.
“We got interest from different labels, and it made it all feel like, ‘Yeah, we should do this,’” Kasher says.
The group settled on Run for Cover, home to Another Michael, Fiddlehead, Self Defense Family, Citizen, and others.
“It really is the first time that we've gone off to another label since we started in 1995, when we signed to Crank! Records,” Kasher says. “So there's a certain excitement to that. At our age, it’s not the excitement of, ‘We just got signed! I wonder what's going to happen with this record?!’ It’s more like we’re doing something different.”
“More than most bands, our labels have been part of our history because we built Saddle Creek alongside our friends’ bands,” Maginn adds. “We did it ourselves with 15 Passenger, so it’s a big deal to us to take on and trust new partners.”
A big deal suits Devourer, a new peak in a career that has continually reached greater artistic heights. After so much time together, it’d be easy to let nostalgia or complacency take hold. “I saw our future / And I want to go back,” says the protagonist of “Consumers.”
But on Devourer, Cursive is only moving forward.