Rebecca Vernon (SubRosa), the driving creative force behind THE KEENING returns with her second album, Devotion. The highly anticipated new album sees Vernon and company releasing one of the year's most evocative works; a truly compelling mix of slow burning, ethereal post-rock, folk, goth, and soaring doom.

For Vernon, the writing process for Devotion took place in two starkly different environments. It ranged from the contemplative solitude of a friend’s cabin in a deserted Idaho ski resort, to the hectic reality of a 55+ senior living community in Spokane, Washington, where she was staying with her father.

"I recorded the initial skeletons for the demos during a month alone at a family friend's cabin in the mountains at Schweitzer Ski Resort in Idaho, during the off-season in October," says Vernon. "Most of the ski resort was deserted. I had just quit my job a few months ago in order to devote a huge amount of time to music for a few months, which ended up turning into a year. A couple months later, right before recording the demos for Devotion, I was living with my Dad in a senior living home in Spokane, Washington. I had procrastinated finishing the tracks and was falling into a pretty bad depression. It felt like it took every ounce of my power to finish them. My Dad played a part in them getting finished; always supporting and encouraging me to keep going, giving me the space I needed to write, holed up in my room for hours with my beloved cat Gabriella. I worked on the demos 8-10 hours a day, just like going to a job, and then ate dinner with my Dad down in the dining room with all the elderly clientele of the retirement home at night. They were all very excited and supportive of my writing an album."

The end result was an explosive album that is underscored by a subtle duality that resonates throughout its most poignant moments, both lyrically and musically.

"The album is dedicated to my dad, who passed away a little over a year ago (May 11, 2025,)" says Vernon. "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)."

She continues, "Love involves sacrifice and pain too, though, and I see my Dad in the bird on the front sitting steadfastly on its nest even while it's being cut by thorns. He was wholly devoted to his family even though raising a family is a big sacrifice."

Take the single "A Little Bit of Blood," for example. Quiet, acoustic guitar strums give way for Vernon's haunting vocals, before the backing instrumentation explodes into a soaring chorus reminding the listener that sometimes the best paths taken are

the most difficult.

"You drew a little bit of blood to show me Just a little bit of blood to make me see It took a little bit of blood to wake me Just a little wound in the night to free me"

"My brother pointed out that the art and themes of Devotion reminded him of my Dad's story," says Vernon. "When my Dad was 19, he was the drunk driver in a car accident that resulted in the death of an 18-year-old girl who was supposed to start college the next day. The girl's mother forgave him and was worried about my Dad and the state of his life. Her actions stayed with him and he was able to turn his life around a few years later. He went on to meet and marry my mom, have a family, and become a colonel in the Air Force. He was loved by everyone who knew him. He visited the girl's mother a few years ago, as she was dying in a hospital. My Dad was non-judgemental towards people who make big mistakes in life.

In a 2024 interview with Decibel Magazine, Vernon discussed the drastic shift in heavy music's themes in recent years, highlighting a willingness to convey raw emotion: "Metal is beginning to share more vulnerable things, more confessional things. Metal has almost become a safe place to talk about those things. People are being open with their struggles. Twenty years ago, they wouldn't have." Devotion lays these emotional confessions bare and showcases a truly bright burn.

Devotion was recorded in April 2022, again at Hallowed Halls in Portland, with Billy Anderson and Nathan Carson featured in their same roles as heard on Little Bird. Once again, Vernon showcases her writing prowess, having a heavy hand on all the instrumentation for Devotion; Vernon played drums, guitar, piano, organ, and hammered dulcimer, and provided most of the vocals on both albums, with a few guest vocalists added to the mix.

“I traveled up to Portland to record the album with Billy Anderson, who was as amazing to work with this time as he was on Little Bird. Nate Carson helped with arrangements and encouragement and lent his drum kit for me to play drums on this album as well,” Vernon explains. “He and Billy were the first ones to hear the demos for Devotion. Many of the same talented Portland musicians from the first album appeared on the second – Andrea Morgan of Exulansis (violin and viola), Lily Breshears of Shears (harp), Kelly Schilling of Dreadnought (flute), and Dan Partridge (French horn); and two new musicians, Jackie Perez Gratz from Grayceon, Amber Asylum and Giant Squid (cello) and Lisa “Clarinet” Lipton (clarinet). Justin Weis from Trakworx mastered the album in San Francisco."