Red (Devilskin album)

The album was primarily recorded at Roundhead Studios in Auckland in mid-2019, starting from a collection of 30 demo tracks.^[1][2] "Endo" was released as a single in 2018, and describes lead vocalist Jennie Skulander's experiences having an 11 centimetre endometrioma removed from her ovary.^[3] The song "Sweet Release" was inspired by the death of Nicky Autumn Stevens, and released as a single in 2020 in collaboration with Lifeline Aotearoa, to raise awareness about suicide prevention.^[4]

The album was announced on 17 January 2020, coinciding with the band's single "Corrode".^[1] The album was released on streaming and digital download internationally on 3 April 2020,^[1][5] with a physical CD and LP release following on 1 May 2020.^[6] After needing to cancel their international tour due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Devilskin held the Paint NZ Red tour in New Zealand in August and September 2020.^[7][8]

Doug Peters of Ambient Light Blog praised the album, calling it "Devilskin's finest album to date". He felt that the album had a "bigger sound than their past releases", and that band members outside of Jennie Skulander were showcased moreso on Red then their previous albums. Peters also felt that there were some issues with Skulander's vocals on "Same Life", and that "Bright Lights" had sections which were not cohesive.^[9]

The album debuted at 8 on the New Zealand albums charts, reaching a peak of number two in May. Red spent a total of seven weeks in the top 40 albums chart.^[10] Red was the 13th most commercially successful album by a New Zealand artist in the country for 2020.^[11]