DeVotchKa

100 Lovers (Anti-)

Maybe it’s mojo, maybe it’s maturity, maybe there’s something in the mile-high air in Denver, but Devotchka has harnessed a spectrum of emotions and attitudes in each of its albums, from nostalgia and longing to mischief. This has never been more true than with 100 Lovers, the indie-gypsy-mariachi-fusion quartet’s sixth full-length. While Nick Urata brings a swoonworthy OMG dramz! ethos to “All the Sand in All the Sea,” Tom Hagerman’s masterful violin work does the narrative heavy lifting in “The Common Good.” The Spanish-influenced “Ruthless” finds Urata, a twinkle in his eye, adopting the persona of a sinister ringmaster in a final showdown with his lover. Meanwhile, the instrumentation – strings, horns, samples, accordion, theremin – is more lushly realized than ever. Instrumental closer “Sunshine” revisits the landscape just covered, lingering over the swirling desert dust then drifting into the dusk, as final as death. (Wed., 10:30pm, ACL Live at the Moody Theater; Thu., 10pm, Lustre Pearl)

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This article appears in March 18 • 2011.

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