Charley Young
May 14, 2021
“Everywhere A Devil” doesn’t ease or invite the listener into its sonic experience. It drops (like Airdrop’s artist name suggests) the listener right into the heart of the song.
How can you ignore the lyrics, “Hey you, yeah you over there! I live my life like I don’t really f***ing care, I see the devil everywhere, everywhere I go, you gotta watch yourself before the war takes your soul”? Airdrop’s hard-hitting beat is only strengthened by People of the Parallel’s lyrics which almost feel like a warning to the listener: stay aware because wolves are sometimes dressed in sheep’s clothing, to borrow from the old adage.
As the song unfolds, People of the Parallel sings the first verse with his signature storytelling-style delivery. Every time I listen to a People of the Parallel song, I feel as if I am sitting down in the same room with him, listening to a personal story that he is recounting only to me. The musical turnaround before the second verse offers a nice ad-lib vocal and instrumental section that doesn’t sag in energy, but basically acts as a springboard for the song to come back in full throttle.
The guitar in the song really stands out in the repeated chorus at the end of the song, adding to the song’s vivacity and power. The outro makes the listener anticipate another round of the raucous chorus, but as Airdrop and People of the Parallel are wont to do, they make an unexpected musical switch, leading the listener into an almost experimental sounding ending. People of the Parallel has been “Airdrop” ped out: he abruptly finishes his story, disappears down the road, and leaves the listener in his dust cloud to reckon with his important message in “Everywhere A Devil.”
Charley Young May 2021