An Evolution Theory

An Evolution Theory

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
An Evolution Theory

Made up of quiet, intimate songs sprinkled with quirky humour, Devendra Banhart's ninth LP is his most focused to date.

Devendra Banhart/ Ape in Pink Marble

'I heard there's a brand new zoo in Thailand/So I hitchhike on a private flight and got there, man, fast!" Devendra Banhart sings on Fancy Man, the fifth song on his latest studio offering, Ape in Pink Marble. For long-time fans of the Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter, hearing the giggle-inducing, whimsy-embedded lyrics are akin to catching up with an old pal.

And it's this sense of comforting familiarity and sweet nostalgia that pervades Banhart's ninth LP, a follow-up to 2013's Mala. Working once again with the same line-up of producers Noah Georgeson, Josiah Steinbrick and Rodrigo Amarante, he's crafted a mature, folk-tinged acoustic sound that highlights his shape-shifting artistic journey from an anything-goes hippie to a bearded hipster icon, and simply being a well-rounded musician that defies pigeonholing.

Lead single/opener Middle Names sets the tone of the record with its mellow tapestry of instruments, including traditional Japanese strings called koto. "Why is the moon so bright? Why are you so nice?/See you alone at the Walgreens at night/I used to think that you'd always return to your woman-in-waiting," he croons in the chorus with a neat vibrato flourish. Underpinned by askew acoustic guitar and koto, Good Time Charlie finds him singing about "the desert dreams of oceans" before telling a strange tale about a police officer: "Me and my policeman are pulling over everyone we can/Sometimes I breathalyse/And he gives the DUIs."

Jon Lends a Hand is a rhythm guitar-driven serenade in which Banhart borrows guitar chords from a man named Jonathan so that he can use them to convey how beautiful his love interest looks today. It's an intriguing approach to storytelling and songwriting, something he repeats on Mara, the aforementioned Fancy Man and the intriguing titled Theme for a Taiwanese Woman in Lime Green.

Souvenirs and Mourner's Dance share the dreamlike quality while standouts like Saturday Night brim with koto exoticness land poetic lines like "You're a blue sky decomposing/As we all embrace what we've become/And love always is merging to one … Please don't love me because, don't love me because/You're through hating you". The final three offerings (Linda, Lucky, Celebration) mark the album's most introspective set of songs and together they create a wholly hazy, understated vibe that beautifully concludes the record.

Speaking of Ape in Pink Marble, Barnhart reportedly said that it takes place in an imaginary Japanese hotel where the music is meant to play in the lobby. It's a fun little imaginary scenario to think about while listening to the record, especially when the sonic palette spans international influences from Japanese to Latin American music, and all the way to bossa nova and samba. In lesser hands, all of those elements could be a hot mess, but in this case, Banhart has nailed it.

THE PLAYLIST

Safeplanet/ Hong Krajok (Mirror Room)

Rising trio Safeplanet have given us a couple of decent indie-pop gems over the years including Klong Dam (Black box), Oheya and Ra Bai (Paint). But their latest offering, Hong Krajok (Mirror Room), is probably their most refined and grown-up yet. Featuring a fully realised sound built on melodic guitars and lush vocal harmonies, the song likens the state of being stuck in a past relationship to being in a room full of mirrors.

Robbie Williams/ Party Like a Russian

Robbie Williams can deny it all he wants, but it's obvious his new single, Party Like a Russian, aims squarely at a certain Russian oligarch. Taken from Williams' forthcoming 11th LP The Heavy Entertainment Show, the song samples Dance of the Knights from Sergey Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet, and contains lines that are guaranteed to tick some people off: "It takes a certain kind of man with a certain reputation/To alleviate the cash from a whole entire nation/Take my loose change and build my own space station/Ain't no refutin' or disputin', I'm a modern Rasputin."

Empire of the Sun (feat Lindsey Buckingham)/ To Her Door

Ahead of next week's release of their third album Two Vines, Australian synth-pop duo Empire of the Sun surprise us with a collaboration with Fleetwood Mac's long-time guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, To Her Door. The song is a mid-tempo plea to a lover who's been wronged. "I feel better when we are together, I know it's simple but I don't care/I try to say the things to make up for the mess I've caused," vocalist Luke Steele sings over Buckingham's signature guitar lines.

Solange/ Cranes in the Sky

If Beyoncé's Lemonade was about a woman struggling to come to terms with her husband's infidelity, her sister's new studio record, A Seat at the Table, is about a woman struggling to come to terms with herself. The album's soulful second single, Cranes in the Sky, finds Solange listing all the things she tried in hopes of sorting out some of her personal issues. "I tried to drink it away/I tried to put one in the air/I tried to dance it away/I tried to change it with my hair," she croons alongside a regal backdrop of drums and piano before realising that despite all her efforts, she's stuck in a rut and everything just made her even sadder.

Kimbra/ Sweet Relief

New Zealand pop princess Kimbra has dropped her first new cut since the release of her second record, The Golden Echo, in 2013. According to the Kiwi singer-songwriter, Sweet Relief stems from "a season of experimentation" and "newfound creative liberation", which is exactly what's going on on this track: warped, woozy beats and swaggering funk grooves in the tradition of Prince and Janet Jackson. Helmed by London-based producer Redinho, this may be a one-off single, but the track has more than enough punch to tide fans over until her next album proper comes out.

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