The Keening, the project led by Rebecca Vernon of SubRosa, have released their second album, “Devotion”, out now on Relapse Records. The seven-track full-length is available to stream and to order through the label.
The press release describes “Devotion” as a mix of slow-burning, ethereal post-rock, folk, goth and doom. Vernon wrote the album in two very different settings: the solitude of a friend’s cabin at a deserted Idaho ski resort, and a 55+ senior living community in Spokane, Washington, where she was staying with her father.
A dragonfly for her father
Vernon dedicated the album to her father, who passed away on 11 May 2025.
“The album is dedicated to my dad, who passed away a little over a year ago (May 11th, 2025). He was one of my greatest champions and supporters of my music. My sister and I see dragonflies as a symbol of him, so I asked our cover artist, Marald van Haasteren, if he could put a dragonfly in the art. The dragonfly is coming out of the stem of a poppy, so again, to me, it depicts that dichotomy or tension between the dark meaning of devotion (addiction) and its lighter meaning (love).”
- Rebecca Vernon, The Keening
The record was recorded in April 2022 at Hallowed Halls in Portland, with Billy Anderson and Nathan Carson in the same roles they held on the debut “Little Bird”. Vernon had a heavy hand in all of the instrumentation: she played drums, guitar, piano, organ and hammered dulcimer, and provided most of the vocals, with a few guest vocalists added.
Seven tracks of chamber doom
The track listing runs: “Devotion I - Golden Thread”, “Devotion II - Fitful Sleep”, “Devotion III - The King”, “Devotion IV - O Mother”, “A Little Bit Of Blood”, “Time Travel” and “The Murder Of Anna Brown”. The previously released video for “A Little Bit Of Blood” was directed, edited and colored by Ken Whiting and written by Andrew Bonazelli. A visualizer for “Devotion III - The King” is also out.
From SubRosa to The Keening
Vernon is best known as the vocalist and guitarist of SubRosa, the progressive doom band from Salt Lake City, Utah, formed in 2005. That band released “More Constant Than the Gods” in 2013 and “For This We Fought the Battle of Ages” in August 2016 on Profound Lore Records. With The Keening she debuted with “Little Bird” and now follows it with “Devotion”, on which she handles vocals, guitars, drums, piano, organ and hammered dulcimer. She holds a master’s degree in creative writing, and in a 2024 interview with Decibel Magazine she spoke about heavy music’s shift toward confessional themes, saying that metal has “almost become a safe place” for artists to be open about their struggles.
