Staff Reviews

Devendra Banhart - What Will We Be

Review by Josh Heller

It seems that without the urge to be a bit weird, gone too is the urge to challenge or confront. »

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devendra banhart exploded on the international music scene in 2002 quickly winning a coterie of devoted fans as well as an unusually hefty amount of critical kudos right from the outset. his latest release is 'what will we be', recorded in a sleepy northern california town throughout the spring of 2009 co-produced by paul butler (from uk outfit band of bees). the international media's acclaim and the size of his audience both at home and abroad earned by his debut 'oh me oh my the way the day goes by the sun is setting dogs are dreaming lovesongs of the christmas spirit' was impressive to begin with and has increased dramatically with each subsequent release. 'what will we be' has a sunny, breezy feel with performances that evoke warm, lazy afternoons spent with good friends. the album is dominated by powerfully melodic, mid-tempo numbers played with relaxed expertise. but there's also ambitious stylistic range displayed with the inclusion of evanescent ballads like 'meet me at the lookout point,' the epic riff-rocker 'rats' sprightly r&b flavoured groovers on 'baby,' and the sultry latin-flavoured stunner 'brindo,' the roxy-inspired '16th and valencia roxy music' among other pleasant surprises.
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