Exclaim! Review (Even if it Kills Me)

https://exclaim.ca/music/article/billy_and_the_devil_even_if_it_kills_me

The outlaw is having a pop culture moment. Whether it's Orville Peck's queer take on classic cowboy iconography or Lil Nas X's genre-blending approach, rogues and vagabonds are roaming free in today's new music and pop culture. The latest artist to embrace this trend is Billy & the Devil, a new musical project that transposes the lone ranger ethos into stadium-sized pop-rock anthems, starting with debut single "Even If It Kills Me."

Produced by Jason Couse and Wes Marskell — a.k.a. both halves of the Darcys — alongside Hugh Mackie, "Even If It Kills Me" is a Killers-esque blast of Americana-tinged arena rock with rattlesnake-esque tambourine and Heartland rock pianos. Fuzzed-out electric guitars drive the arrangements, contrasting nicely against Billy's deep-registered delivery, as he doles out lyrics like "Windswept hills, Arizona plains, I worship at the altar of a parlor game" and "Like an outlaw on the run, my judgment still to come."

Said Billy in a statement, "'Even If It Kills Me' is about wanting to set the past on fire. When the burden gets too much, sometimes the only choice is to turn your back and walk away. Doing that's the only way you'll ever be free to start again."