The Devil’s Forfeit - 'Outer Lines' Release Date: 24 October 2025

Musically, legendary bassist Neil Murray of Whitesnake (and many other bands) is probably the best-known name from The Borders, but recently we’ve seen the emergence of WildFire and now also The Devil’s Forfeit – a Galashiels and Edinburgh based band who will release their debut album this Friday and celebrate with an album launch party on 1 November 2025 at The Banshee Labyrinth in Edinburgh’s Old Town.

The band formed in late 2024 and they’ve been making a name for themselves with plenty of gigs around the East of Scotland, with most of the attention focused on the femme fatale persona of singer Angela Grace and her eye-catching outfits. The focus stays on Angela in the album’s opening track and lead single ‘Session’ – a salacious and sensual sleazy-blues number that opens with a whip-crack and takes things straight to the boudoir for a good seeing to! It is overtly in-your-face sexy but the other thing that’s immediately obvious is a crystal-clear production and clever vocal effects.

‘Southern Style’ brings exactly that, with some Skynyrd piano and bayou guitar sounds, but the overall feel is more Creedence than Luke Combs. The song title that initially caught my eye on the track listing was ‘Knickers’ – what, nae fur coat? It is a lacy and jaunty little piano-led bar room boogie with some fragrant saxophone and lyrics about a “dirty little girl with her knickers in a twist”. It’s a lot of fun and definitely worth a quick sniff. So, three songs in, and we’ve already had plenty of variety in the style of music on offer, and that, plus the catsuits, actually put me slightly in mind of Space Elevator, another classy band that likes to mix it up a bit.

The title track ‘Outer Lines’ changes pace again. It is an addictive and riffy number on a bed of groovy bass and drums that I remember hearing at Bannerman’s over a year ago, and it’s been out in demo form on Bandcamp since April 2024. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night’ is not the KISS song and does not feature Ace Frehley, but it does have a really sharp, almost-indie riff and Angela adds a bit of a raucous edge to her vocal in a homage to everyone’s favourite (or second favourite) nocturnal pastime and it is probably the most melodic song on the album.

A selection box of styles keeps up the variety and quality throughout the rest of the album. ‘Playing With Fire’ is another one with a modern-sounding riff, ‘Hold Your Breath’ features some really fluid bass and a brief male vocal. ‘Defying Mother’ is a retro-groovy Hammond-infused stomp and ‘The Shakes’ is a fuzzed-up marvel, while the dance around the musical styles continues with ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’, which is a riffy beauty but also a bit Doors-y with some retro keyboard highlights. The album closer is ‘Wander’, another live favourite, which reintroduces the sex appeal with a heavy bass presence, some pheromones and a very tidy guitar solo.

Overall, there’s a lot going on here and the variety of styles keeps it interesting throughout. The band’s EPK states that they “aren’t here to reinvent the wheel, but they fully intend to spin it fast,

kick up dust and remind you why rock ‘n’ roll still matters”. I think they have achieved that. I’m sure these songs and Angela’s strong stage presence will make for a fine live headline show and the album launch party will be a perfect opportunity to check that out.

The album is available to order from the band’s website or you can pre-order on Spotify and all the usual streaming sites. Even better, I’m sure they will also be happy to sign one for you at The Banshee on 1st November with Six Mile Wide and 8th Circle.

The Devil’s Forfeit are;

Angela Grace (Vocals)

Elliot Waugh (Guitar)

Ricky Nolan Duggan (Bass)

Viktor Lisonel (Drums)