The Devil Makes Three return with Spirits on February 28, 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 acclaimed Chains Are Broken.
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 Pete Bernhard, who lost his mother, brother, and closest childhood friend while making the record. Bernhard adds, “The world’s in a strange place right now. A lot of the songs on this record come from that place—trying to make sense of it all, whether it’s dealing with loss, addiction, or the way people are more divided than ever. But at the end of the day, this band has always been about celebrating resilience. We’ve always found a way to push through, and wanted to reflect that in this album.”
The Devil Makes Three has always thrived in the spaces between genres, where the grit of folk, the soul of blues, and the rebellious spirit and frenetic energy of punk collide. Formed in 2002 in Santa Cruz, California by Bernhard and Cooper McBean, the trio, now featuring longtime collaborator MorganEve Swain (taking over on upright bass and vocals from Lucia Turino), has continued to evolve musically while staying rooted in their core sound. Bernhard says “When we first started the band in Santa Cruz, there was a folk scene, but also a progressive jam following, and that’s what we wanted to do… play traditional folk music with an aggressively punk approach.”
Today, Relix premiered the album’s title track. 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.”
SHARE THE DEVIL MAKES THREE “SPIRITS”
For over two decades, The Devil Makes Three has delivered high-energy performances that pull audiences into a rollicking, unrelenting groove leaving them captivated and wanting more. The band has announced their initial North American Tour dates in support of the new album, launching on February 27th in Vancouver, British Columbia and featuring stops at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY, First Avenue in Minneapolis, and more. Please see tour dates, with more to be announced, below.
Driven by the personal losses that fueled the new album, The Devil Makes Three has emerged with renewed clarity and purpose. Their music remains a place where tales of hardship are met with wry humor, where the bad news is often packaged in an upbeat rhythm, and where every show feels like a gathering of kindred spirits ready to dance away the troubles of the day.
Spirits will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. An extremely limited-to-100 brick red color vinyl edition will be available via Heady Wax Fiends while a limited signed compact disc and limited purple color 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 color vinyl edition both autographed by The Devil Makes Three are available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.
Spirits Track Listing:
1. Lights on Me
2. Spirits
3. Ghosts are Weak
4. Half as High
5. Hard Times
6. The Devil Wins
7. The Dark Gets the Best of You
8. Fallen Champions
9. The Gift
10. Divide and Conquer
11. I Love Doing Drugs
12. Poison Well
13. Holding On
The Devil Makes Three On Tour:
February 27, 2025 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC
February 28, 2025 - The Showbox @ The Market - Seattle, WA
March 1.2025 - McMenamins Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
March 2, 2025 - McDonald Theatre - Eugene, OR
March 4, 2025 - Ace Of Spades - Sacramento, CA
March 5, 2025 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
March 7,2025 - The Observatory North Park - San Diego, CA
March 8, 2025 - The Regent Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
May 8, 2025 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
May 9,2025 - Brooklyn Bowl Philly - Philadelphia, PA
May 10, 2025 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA
May 11, 2025 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C
May 13,2025 - House of Blues - Cleveland, OH
May 14, 2025 - Saint Andrew's Hall - Chicago, IL
May 15,2025 - Metro - Detroit, MI
May 17, 2025 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
