Review Summary: THIS guy made a mixtape for Lindsey Lohan?
Put on the loose clothing, dim the lights, turn on the lava lamps, and get out that acid: freak-folk superstar Devendra Banhart has just released a new album. Since 2002, with his debut The Charles C. Leary, Banhart has been delighting today’s neo-hippies with his super-descriptive, mostly surreal lyrics, a brain-warping mix of folk and psychedelic freak-outs, and distinctly Venezuelan-accented vocals. The best part: you don’t need a particularly strong hallucinogen to enjoy his newest batch of finely-tuned naturalismo music, titled Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain.
And what a varied batch it is. Smokey is both Banhart’s longest and most progressive album yet, and it shows off his ability to inject many different genres of music into some sometimes-stale folk. “Lover” is simple sun-bathed surf-rock, within which Banhart wields a throaty croon and a soaring falsetto, soloing spontaneously on a blues-y guitar, while “Saved” is pure gospel, complete with dueling organs, a backing choir, and Banhart singing, in a clichéd low, rising style , “I was saved by the fire/I was burning inside of my soul”. Banhart never stops genre-hopping, moving from a Santana-style burner named “Carmensita”, the slow, brooding reggae joint “The Other Woman”, and some pure, epic classic rock, as most brilliantly shown in the eight-minute bright spot “Seahorse”.
Some of this works, some of it doesn’t. “Saved” and “Lover” come off flat, but songs like “Carmensita” and “The Other Woman” are so overwhelmingly great that you forget about blunders past. But a sure thing is his pure, extremely emotional folk. “Freely” begins softly and lightly, but is actually a dark tearjerker that switches back and forth from Spanish and English lyrics, and is mostly entirely acoustic besides some well-placed violins to close the piece. The opener, “Cristobal” is a mellow, piano-driven song that has a distinctly Latin feel, and “Tonada Yanomaminista” is one of the few songs that predominately features an electric guitar, and its hyperactive pace, makes it seem crazily fast compared to the mostly sluggish songs surrounding it. But Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain saves the best for last: pure folk ballads “I Remember” and “My Dearest Friend” manage to hit just the right emotional cords to perfectly end such a sprawling album.
Devendra Banhart keeps on improving with every release, and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain is easily his best album yet. While it may suffer some from its genre-bending eccentrics, and sixteen five-minute tracks is admittedly way too long for a freak-folk album, this sprawling nature may be the album’s greatest strength. No track sounds exactly the same, and it might just be impossible to be completely bored with this varied, atmospheric album. Put down whatever you’re listening to now, hippies, and come check out some of this.
