With New Single “Underneath”, DEVYN Wants You To Look Closer
The alt-pop star returns with a comeback that is her most experimental and freeing to date.
One of the most striking independent pop musicians working today is DEVYN, a Korean-American singer-songwriter whose music is as versatile as it is honest. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, DEVYN has carved out a successful career as a model (she’s shot with Tiffany & Co., among many others), but it’s her vision as a multifaceted artist that is defining her excellent musical output.
She is an actress as much as she is a musician and throughou the past three years, DEVYN has learned how to use her body as a canvas to transform herself to fit with new concepts, which she creates in collaboration with manager Natalie Huyen. Together, the women have created some of the most high-quality and striking full-package experiences being released in the independent pop sphere. For Huyen and DEVYN, the visual aesthetics are as vital to understanding DEVYN’s artistry as listening to her music. Perhaps this is because to fully appreciate DEVYN’s vision, you must also engage with her visuals and, this part is crucial, she requires you to think; to consider what is going on beneath the surface.
DEVYN’s music ranges from tender tracks about falling in love (“U”) to songs that explore her identity and examine self-worth (“WHO”, “MOON”). But it’s “Underneath”, her new single released today, where the singer finds her most rewarding and beguiling sound. The singer worked with Taydex & Wes Singerman, two Gold-winning producers who have worked with iconoclasts like Joji and Jon Batiste, and Brandon Shoop to create the single. Taydex, Singerman and Shoop understand that DEVYN is at her best when she doesn’t reveal everything all at once. Her most striking work comes from mystery. DEVYN earns your appreciation by unearthing truths that take their time to be revealed in her music.
“Underneath”, then, is a song that lets listeners meet DEVYN as an enigma. The song slowly builds with synths and backbeats that coalesce around DEVYN’s airy vocals. “I need my distance,” she sings as the song begins to take shape. “Make it all make sense.” The song best represents the surprises DEVYN brings to her work as it twists and mutates into new textures and sounds before reaching transcendence at its near 3-minute runtime. The instrumentations, particularly as the chorus kicks in, allow DEVYN’s voice to become its own instrument of questioning and reckoning. “Try to fall in deep/ So I see/ The root of what I’m feeling underneath,” she sings, as much an invitation as a statement of inquisition.
“‘Underneath’ represents the inability of addressing one's true feelings. Falling into the depths of oneself but not quite listening nor adhering to your needs,” DEVYN said in a statement Huyen provided. “‘‘Underneath’ is about letting go, truly listening to and recognizing the roots of our being. Giving what lies underneath the ability to surface and let be.”
What I’ve always loved about DEVYN is her desire to experiment and to push herself as an artist. Listen to any of her music, and you’ll hear a singer willing to try new sounds or concepts. Her story, which I profiled in 2023, is one of resilience and intense self-determination. “I am such a strong advocate of being your unapologetic self and embracing all sides of who you are,” DEVYN told me in our first interview. “Underneath” is likely the best representation of this messaging: Look closer, see what’s underneath the surface and you’ll find a woman embracing all sides of her identity – unapologetically and fearlessly.
