Devendra Banhart – Going for Adds
For a guy who gets tagged with a lot of limiting descriptors — “freak folk,” “hippie” and so forth — Devendra Banhart doesn’t like to let his music sit in any spot for long. His catalog has taken him through warmly strummed, intimate ballads; raw, lo-fi recordings; songs in several languages (Banhart is half-Venezuelan); and low-key anthems about free-spiritedness.
On his latest release, Mala, Devendra Banhart can still be as loopy as he was on his first albums a decade ago. Although it’s not a traditional concept album, Mala has the feel of a running dialogue between a man and a woman over their relationship, with Banhart as both cad and confused lover. His lyrics are so sharp; it’s hard to tell if they’re meant to be witty or dark. “It’s not the end of the world, but it’s not the start of a new one”, he sings on “Cristobal Risquez“. Banhart‘s consistent collaborator, who’s also done work with Joanna Newsom, Noah Georgeson, returns as co-producer and performer on the record. The result is an album with Caribbean colors, folk structures, and the graininess that early Banhart fans have come to know. Missing from the record though, are the trailing melodies and fragmented ideas that would fill out Banhart‘s prior pieces. In a recent NY Times interview, Banhart explained, “I don’t think I’m getting better, quote unquote, as a singer or guitar player.” “But I’m more comfortable in this particular space. I get better at being a bad singer, so to speak.” We see this on display with lead single “Für Hildegard von Bingen”. The rhythm section peaks and pokes around the track’s muffled guitar. A rising, radiant synth and guitar murmurs fill out the song’s space providing for a fine introduction to the world of Mala. The frisky “Won’t You Come Over” is invigorated by a busy, high-pitched guitar and lively back-up melodies. A thick, dusky bass begins “Never Seen Such Good Things“, calling to mind AM-radio-distilled 60′s R&B. The lead guitar follows Banhart’s spiraling melody and twirls the opposite direction during the song’s galloping chorus. “Your Fine Petting Duck” has the tinted production style of Broadcast and Foxygen but with a South American air & Doo-Wop sway. Halfway through, a New Order-esque pulsing synth transports you to a dark UK nightclub. The segue serves as a reminder of Banhart‘s artistic fearlessness, something we’ve come to expect from one our favorite artists of the past decade.
RIYL: Akron/Family, Grizzly Bear, CocoRosie, Ariel Pink, Joanna Newsom
Recommended Tracks: Track #3 “Für Hildegard von Bingen”, track #4 “Never Seen Such Good Things”, track #8 “Won’t You Come Over”, track #5 “Your Fine Petting Duck”, track #10 “Hatchet Wound”
Going for Adds 3/18 & 3/19
FCC CLEAN
Label: Nonesuch
