Devendra Banhart - What Will We Be

Author

Joey K

Published

Tuesday 12th January

Warner

Yeah, that’s right, Warner. The king of weird has finally found himself on a major and, whether because of this fact or not, he seems to have cleaned up his act (cult leader beard trimmed to a respectable length) and reigned in his eccentricity. For me, it always felt a bit contrived and actually served to distract from his talent rather than enhance it. ‘What Will We Be’ is a more straightforward take on his drug hazed style but rather than being less interesting, the new found space gives the songwriting room to come to the fore rather than the eccentricity. Call it maturity, call it selling out, call it whatever the hell you like – I call it the most charming and least annoying Banhart album I have yet heard.

There’s no real departure from his formula of mixing various vintage influences, from late ‘60’s psychedelia and tropicalia to ‘70’s folk and prog rock, and even a bit of angular ‘80’s dance pop on ‘16th & Valencia, Roxy Music’, but the ideas and the production – courtesy of Paul (The Bees) Butler – are less scattered and groggy, Banhart’s balancing act pulled into sharper focus.

Don’t worry gonzo fans, there’s still plenty of room for him to get strange – see mid-album freakouts ‘Chin Chin & Muck’ or ‘Rats’ – but it’s the straighter songs that really shine. ‘Baby’, ‘Goin’ Back’ and ‘Meet Me at Lookout Point’ are all gentle little delights, no doubt bordering perilously close to easy listening radio friendly fare for some but it’s refreshing to hear Banhart embracing simplicity without feeling the need to intrude with forced obliqueness. The perfect sun-through-the-trees-driving-down-south soundtrack to summer… but perhaps bring along some of his older albums too if you plan to stop for mushrooms.