“When there are dark clouds overhead and the shit is hitting the fan, you’ve still gotta find joy somehow,” the rising singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Devon Gilfillian said, with a smile. As the pain of the pandemic persisted and the United States’ political chasm widened, Gilfillian relied on a few simple resources: the music of Marvin Gaye, new love, therapy, and his beloved cats, Barry White and Felicia. The result of that warmhearted self-care is the aptly titled Love You Anyway (Fantasy Records), an album spanning soul, hip-hop, R&B, and rock all under the banner of Black joy. “I wanted to share my story and pour a whole lot of love into the gap that’s grown between people in our country,” Gilfillian says.
Potent, seductive, and raw, Love You Anyway is an intoxicating, genre-blasting game changer that re-imagines modern soul music by redefining its possibilities. With an incisive eye and unassuming swagger, Gilfillian ignites the mind, and makes the body move.
Produced by Jeremy Lutito (Joy Oladokun, NEEDTOBREATHE) and recorded in Nashville, Love You Anyway, confronts as well as comforts. Chronicling Gilfillian’s journey as a Black artist living in the tumult of 21st century America, the album’s 10 original tracks, (all co-written by Gilfillian) are as much about fighting for what you believe in, equity and representation, as it is about love¾finding it, making it, and channeling it into every facet of our lives.