Portugal. the Man have shared a previously unreleased version of “The Devil” taken from a unique recording session that will be released in full as Oregon City Sessions on April 16th via Approaching AIRBalloons/Secretly Distribution. A vinyl and CD release will follow on June 11th.
The session was recorded in December 2008. At the time, Portugal. the Man had been around for just a couple of years, but they’d already put out several albums and were a seasoned road act. At the end of one tour, rather than returning home to Alaska, the band found a studio in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, and decided to record their live set in a single shot, no retakes or overdubs.
Over a decade later, Oregon City Sessions will finally get an official release, and “The Devil” offers a preview of that raw document. The Oregon City Sessions version of “The Devil” is much longer and shaggier shaggier than the original studio recording (released in 2006), allowing Portugal. the Man to lean into the song’s menacing blues-rock edge.
Portugal. the Man have also released a video for this version of “The Devil,” which features footage filmed during the Oregon City Sessions. Throughout the recording, the band’s regular collaborator, filmmaker Graham (Baclagon) Agcaolli, was on hand to capture the proceedings, with some help from engineer/mixer Jacob Portrait.
“The first few years of PTM were whirlwind,” Portugal. the Man’s John Gourley said in a statement. “We didn’t have a place to live so we were pretty much either recording or touring. We were so wide-eyed coming out of Alaska that every day was an exciting new adventure. I think you can see it in our playing.”
Portugal. the Man’s most recent studio album, Woodstock, was released in 2017.
Oregon City Sessions Tracklist
1. “Church Mouth”
2. “Horse Warming Party”
3. “New Orleans”
4. “Bellies Are Full”
5. “1989”
6. “My Mind “
7. “Lay Me Back Down”
8. “Chicago”
9. “And I”
10. “The Devil”
11. “AKA M80 the Wolf”
12. “Colors”
13. “March With 6”
14. “Tommy”
15. ” Helter Skelter”
From Rolling Stone US
