Rejoicing in the hands
by Ian Simmons
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Devendra Banhart is unique in terms of today's music. You might be inclined to write him off as a male Dido (a young, sensitive bedroom strummer), but he is way too off-beam to fit the pigeonhole comfortably. You might get early warning of this from the fact that he is signed to former Swan Michael Gira's Young Gods label, never likely to be the home of anything remotely MOR, or the fact that his debut album was recorded on things like friends' answerphones. Indeed, listening bears this out. With a voice that bears strong resemblance to Tyrannosaurus Rex-era Marc Bolan and a clear debt to the newly-revived, but long obscure legacy of late-Sixties psychedelic folk (now rebranded "acid"), this is most definitely left-field.
The sound might be located somewhere between the poppier end of the Incredible String Band and the acoustic outings of Beck, with tinges of Pentangle and The Sallyangie (where Mike Oldfield debuted, backing his sister Sally) thrown in. Indeed, the title track sees him debuting with fantastically obscure Sixties folk cult icon Vashti Bunyan - a spooky throwback that could equally have come from her one and only album, released in 1969 or thereabouts. However, now he has made it to the studio to record his debut proper, his skill as a songwriter is evident. While clearly indebted to and often referencing these arcane influences, he synthesises them to create something definitely modern, rather than a carefully-nurtured nostalgic throwback. He is comfortable with his quirky voice and can write a mean tune, plus he has a nice line in gently off-the-wall lyrics that might have been swiped from a Tom Waits album, lines like "Her saggy flesh swept the floor" or "I could take my teeth out and show them a real good time" abound. He has clearly lived up to the promise of his lo-fi debut Another diamond day and apparently the sessions that Rejoicing came from produced enough recordings for a second album, which should be with us any day soon, something for which I am definitely glad. Devendra Banhart is clearly a talent to watch, providing he sticks to his guns and doesn't get seduced by the lure of big label bland-out or disappear into self-indulgent whimsy.
