Kevin Devine’s newest album “Put Your Ghost To Rest,” is without a doubt the perfect album to lighten up and unwind to after that edgy work day.

Every song on the track list expresses a soothing and relaxed ambiance throughout the entire album, which is difficult to find in many new musicians coming into the spectrum. It is obvious while listening that Devine put his soul into this album by giving each track meaning and emotions for the listener to take in as their own and identify with.

The album composes clever lyrics that are interestingly interpreted with descriptions which sound too beautiful to drug related, which many of his songs will obviously appear to be. Even the most depressing tracks on the album have cheerful and delightful music which gives the album an enjoyable appeal. The bizarrely good mood feeling which this album possess makes for the ideal ‘break-up’ album guaranteed to enliven anyone who just got dumped.

While listening to the album, the lyrics flow through your body making some songs almost impossible not to sing along to. Devine’s gentle and coy voice separates him from other artists, and it is effortless to recognize the amount of passion that is brought out through his each song on the “Put Your Ghost To Rest” album.

Devine has a unique, and tranquil style that separates him from other artists in this genre, though if asked to compare this album, the most appropriate contrast would be a mix between the unperturbed variety of Dashboard Confessional’s “The Swiss Army Romance, and a depressed Jack Johnson’s “On and On.”

Devine’s intention for this album focuses on the years of his drug and alcohol abuse and his struggles during the process of overcoming this difficult time in his life. The album begins with the song “Brooklyn Boy,” which portrays subtle, yet soothing interpretation about years of drug usage. The line “this was a choice, this was never a mistake,” is numerously repeated at the end of the song which clearly states that the choose to continue drug use. After hearing the line, “alone at last to figure how you got this way,” the song seems to represent one who is so deep into drugs that they are unsure of how they got to that point.

Another obviously drug related song in the album is track 3, “Just Stay,” which opens the song by describing a conversation during a drug trade in an alley way. The lyrics appear to describe one who seems to be confused about who they are.

“The morning’s hot and harsh my notebook fills itself. The words come thick with sweat; it feels like someone else is writing all of this, someone I just can’t believe. When I mop my brow, set my pen back down, it’s still me, still me.”

The line describes Devine writing lyrics in a notebook, and later feeling unlike himself and not knowing why he was feeling that way at the time.

The fourth track of the album, called “You’ll Only End Up Joining Them,” is the most emotive song mainly because it was written about Devine’s brother who had died from AIDS.

The line “I know my brother, he went one way and at the fork I heard him say, ‘don’t you follow. Don’t go making my mistakes,’” most definitely describes his brother telling him not to make the same mistakes which caused his death, which was mostly likely caused by drugs. This song seems to be a calling to anyone who is involved with drugs to straighten themselves out, and the tracks following this song are all about one’s struggle to get over the drug addiction and become clean.

The song “Less Yesterday,” describes the final decision of turning a new direction away from the drugs. The line “less yesterday, and more today, yeah I got to get my head on straight,” describes the goal to get his life back in order and straighten himself out.

Despite the frequent drug citations in the album “Put Your Ghost To Rest,” Devine references towards growing up, friendship, and overcoming love, in many songs in this album. One song that defines drifting away from friends as you grow up would be track 10, “Me and My Friends.” This song seems to represent Devine drifting away from the bad influences in his life, which in this case are his old friends, and starting his life over.

The album ends with the comforting and serene song, “Heaven Bound and Glory Be,” which represents overcoming the drug addition. “Heaven Bound and Glory Be” is a perfect end to a soothing and soporific album which faintly expresses such a difficult time in Devine’s life in such a beautiful and sophisticated manner.