Devendra Banhart Returns in Full Folk Swing

Ninja: Ruby Thursday

I pressed play and listened to Devendra Banhart’s latest album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, today. It was not the first time; I bought the album soon after it came out and it stayed on permanent rotation for days afterward, ringing in my head even when it wasn’t coming out of a stereo. It is one of my favorite albums of the year- and of Banhart's- a musical masterpiece in many ways, including in its 16 tracks many different styles and directions of music, taking slow ups and downs with casual, eclectic grace.

Frequently called psychedelic folk or freak folk (which Banhart opines to be a ‘tacky’ description), Banhart’s music calls to the 60s in a way many artists strive for and rarely achieve. This album, in light of his growing repertoire, has harnessed a lightness of sound that feels like it comes from a place of harmony, and is balanced enough to prove his songs better and better as the CD goes through rotation two, three, and then countless times.

I first experienced track number 6, Seahorse, on youtube.com. The video itself is definitely recognizable as a work of Banhart’s unique artistry, and the song an intriguing ballad on which Banhart softly howls at the end: “Well I’m scared of ever being born again/If it’s in this form again/well I wanna know how why where & when & then/I wanna see you be the bright night sky/I wanna see you come back as the light.” Lauren Dukoff, Banhart’s frequent photographer, plays the flute on the song, and it is on a list of songs to be featured in an upcoming film starring Gael Garcia Bernal, of The Motorcycle Diaries and The Science of Sleep.

Banhart’s lyrics are poetry, and when he says that, to him, folk music is “music that is collaborating out of the moment,” it definitely stands as an indication of many of the songs on Smokey. The more you listen, the more you can hear different sounds coming out of the depths of Banhart’s songs, remnants of the moments in which the songs were recorded.

Of the 16 tracks, none are to be missed. Each has to be seen as an individual force– some of his drawings start out as songs, and some of his songs end up as drawings, Banhart says– and the CD as a whole is a story, maybe not a fairy tale, but definitely one with a completely satisfying ending.

Video for Seahorse:

Of Interest: MTV Cribs has a video featuring Banhart as he shows off his house in Topanga Canyon, CA, where Smokey was recorded; the same house was once called home by both Jim Morrison and Neil Young. Showing off different forms of artistic expression, from brightly colored, abstract sketches on plain paper to kernels of corn adorned with googly eyes, Banhart proves interesting to watch as well as listen to, which might be why he has been making a name for himself in both musical and social tabloids. The last minute, where Banhart briefly synpopsizes the death of artist Malachi Ritscher, is not to be missed. link to video