''The Devil's Debt'' is the fifth studio album by Scottish band Love and Money, released by

Vertical Vertical is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Vertical direction, the direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity, up or down * Vertical (angles), a pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting s ...

in 2012.

Background

In 2011, Love and Money reunited to perform at

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is a concert and arts venue located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned by Glasgow City Council and operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow's City Halls and Old Fruitmarket v ...

as part of the

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of tra ...

festival, which was followed later in the year with a concert at the

SEC Centre The SEC Centre (originally known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre until 2017) is Scotland's largest exhibition centre, located ...

. The band's reunion led to the decision to record both new material and some of the songs originally intended for the shelved album ''The Mother's Boy'', which was recorded between 1988's '' Strange Kind of Love'' and 1991's '' Dogs in the Traffic''. ''The Devil's Debt'' was released in 2012 and reached No. 60 on the

Scottish Albums Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

. The title track was released as a single, with a music video produced by the thirteensquared production company. The video was shot at

Govanhill Baths Govanhill Baths is a Category B listed Edwardian public bathhouse at 99 Calder Street, Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, designed by the architect A.B. McDonald and opened between 1912 and 1917. External refurbishment was completed in 2023. The ...

and Òran Mór in Glasgow.

Critical reception

On its release, Alan Morrison of '' The Herald'' felt the album contained "some of the best songs James Grant and co have ever written" and praised Grant's "deep crooner of a voice". He added: "Personally, I'd rather listen to this than ''Strange Kind of Love''".

Track listing

Personnel

Love and Money * James Grant – lead vocals, guitar, string arrangement * Douglas MacIntyre - guitar * Paul McGeechan – keyboards * Gordon Wilson - drums Additional musicians *

Ewen Vernal Ewen Vernal (born 27 February 1964) is a Scottish musician. Born in Glasgow to a musical family, Vernal began taking piano lessons at 8 years old — inspired by a Beatles-singing mother and a choir-leading, saxophone-playing father. Singing ...

- bass * Kennedy Aitchison - string arrangement *

Monica Queen Monica Queen is a singer from Glasgow, Scotland who has collaborated with Belle & Sebastian (e.g., on ''Lazy Line Painter Jane'' from the Lazy Line Painter Jane EP), Chris Coco, James Grant and Jim White, among others. She is listed on the Fire ...

- vocals *

Fraser Speirs Fraser Speirs is a Glasgow-based harmonica player. Originally trained as a medical illustrator, Speirs has been performing for over 30 years and is now an internationally known performer and teacher. He continues to perform with such musicians ...

- harmonica (tracks 6, 8, 10) * Stuart Nisbet - pedal steel guitar (track 8) * Gwen Stewart - vocals (track 8) * Deirdre Rutkowski,

Louise Rutkowski Louise Rutkowski (born 1964) is a Scottish singer who rose to prominence as part of the 4AD music project This Mortal Coil. Early life At 19, Louise was signed to CBS Records, recording three singles and an album with soul producer Pete Wingfi ...

- vocals (track 10) Production * Love and Money - producers * Paul McGeechan - engineer, mixing, mastering * Brian McNeil, Brian Young, Clark Neville, Disco Dave, Duncan Cameron, Gavin McCombe, Geoff Martin, Gordy Goudie, Jamie Savage, John Cameron, Johnny Smillie, Keith Mitchell, Scott Campbell, Steven Scott - additional engineers Other * Steve Kempster - design * Anne-Janine Nugent – photography

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Debt, The 2012 albums Love and Money (band) albums