L Devine played a sold-out hometown headline show at Newcastle’s World HQ last night, and debuted not one, not two, but… many new songs.
“Tonight’s all about showing you new material,” she announced as she walked on stage, following a DJ set from Annie Marron.
Although Liv has had a busy live schedule this year – including an arena support tour alongside Years & Years – she has not released any new material since 2021’s ‘Near Life Experience’ EPs, which came in two parts. In a 4-star review of ‘Part One’, Dork stated that, “L Devine truly understands the power of transcendent pop.”
In the year since, the Newcastle-based singer says, “I’ve been working on an album with this dude,” while gesturing towards her guitarist and producer. “Julien [Flew] is a genius.” It seems this newfound collaborative approach has led to a series of brand new hits that currently remain unreleased.
The setlist from her intimate performance last night included ‘Hater’ (“this one’s about the voice in my head that won’t shut up”), which began with an electric riff that unfolded into a rocky chorus, ‘If I Don’t Laugh I’ll Cry’ (“about the line between total breakdown and mental liberation”), and ‘Laundry Day’ (“my favourite one of the new stuff”).
L Devine’s usual top-tier stage banter revealed a little more context around some of the new tracks as well .“I really bait myself out on this tune. I sound really unhinged but at least I’m self-aware”, she said before blasting out the unreleased ‘Slipping Away’. “Self-awareness is such a get-out-of-jail-free card nowadays. I’ve got the most unhealthy patterns of behavior and attachment problems, but if I’m aware of them, then fuck it.”
She debuted a thrashing track titled ‘Pisses Me Off’, explaining: “I realized I needed an angry song so I wrote this one. It’s probably the only song I’ll write about a boy as well,” she admitted to much laughter. “It’s not like that, though… I wouldn’t dare!”
Amongst all of this fresh material, there was of course time for some of the fan-favourites; ‘Girls Like Sex’ opened the set in a big way, ‘Daughter’ was given a rare full-band rendition, and ‘Priorities’ was a big banger to wind down with.
“You know, I’ve not released anything in so long but I’ve been writing loads and had to get it out,” L Devine concluded at the end of an energetic evening. “Newcastle, you had to be the first to hear it.”
The full setlist for her intimate show at World HQ reads:
Girls Like Sex
Don’t Say It
Hater (unreleased)
Eaten Alive (unreleased)
If I Don’t Laugh I’ll Cry (unreleased)
Cement (unreleased)
Naked Alone
Slipping Away (unreleased)
Worship (unreleased)
Pisses Me Off (unreleased)
Only U (unreleased)
Daughter
On and Off (unreleased)
Priorities
Laundry Day (unreleased)
Push It Down (unreleased)
Playoff (unreleased)
The performance follows her Dork’s Night Out Christmas Party headline and her support shows with Years & Years earlier this year.
