The Keening release Devotion on 16 October through Relapse Records, the second album Rebecca Vernon has made under the name since SubRosa ended.
She wrote it in two places that have nothing to do with each other: a friend's cabin at a ski resort with nobody in it, in Idaho, and a 55-and-over senior living community in Spokane, Washington, where she was staying with her father. He died on 11 May 2025, and the record is dedicated to him.
"He was one of my greatest champions and supporters of my music," Vernon said. "My sister and I see dragonflies as a symbol of him, so I asked our cover artist, Marald van Haasteren, if he could put a dragonfly in" the artwork.
It was recorded in April 2022 at Hallowed Halls in Portland with Billy Anderson and Nathan Carson in the same roles they held on Little Bird, and mastered by Justin Weis at Trakworx. Vernon played drums, guitar, piano, organ and hammered dulcimer on it and sang most of it, with a few guests.
The first single is A Little Bit of Blood, whose video was shot over a weekend in Detroit as an homage to Only Lovers Left Alive, directed, edited and coloured by Ken Whiting and written by Andrew Bonazelli. "Ten Seconds To Comply film company did an incredible job on this music video working within strict parameters, including time," Vernon said.