The Devil Makes Three has announced their return with the release of new album “Spirits” on 28th February 2025 via New West Records. The 13-song set was produced by Ted Hutt (Dropkick Murphys, Old Crow Medicine Show) and recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios in Hurley, NY. Spirits is the Devil Makes Three’s first album in 7 years and follows 2018’s “Chains Are Broken” which was described in these pages as “powerful, emotionally raw music that reaches into the depths of the soul”.
The Devil Makes Three position themselves in the spaces between genres, where the grit of folk, the soul of blues, and the spirit and energy of punk collide. Formed in 2002 in Santa Cruz, California by Pete Bernhard and Cooper McBean, the trio, is now completed by longtime collaborator Morgan Eve Swain (taking over on upright bass and vocals from Lucia Turino).
The album marks a return to the band’s stripped-back roots while delving into deeper, more personal themes of grief, mortality, and personal reflection. “There’s a theme of ghosts and death running through this album,” acknowledges frontman and principal songwriter Bernhard, who lost his mother, brother, and closest childhood friend while making the record.
“Spirits” will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. An extremely limited-to-100 brick red colour vinyl edition will be available via Heady Wax Fiends while a limited signed compact disc and limited purple colour vinyl edition autographed by The Devil Makes Three will be available via Independent Retailers. A limited compact disc as well as a limited-to-500 clear blue colour vinyl edition both autographed by The Devil Makes Three are available for pre-order. You can find the full pre-save / pre-order link here but note that the label store ships from the US.
The band has released the title track as their first single from the new record. Bernhard says,” ‘Spirits’ is a song of grief and loss. In the span of four years, in succession, I lost my mother, brother, and childhood friend to illness, car accident, and heart attack. There were so many simultaneous memories of lost family and friends all at once. This song celebrates them and is an attempt to keep talking to the people we have lost. The spirits are with us.”
