Devendra Banhart
What Will We Be
Devendra Banhart has never made accommodations for his audiences.
The Houston-born musician performs for himself first — the outside world is left as an afterthought. He occasionally graces a movie soundtrack or commercial, but the rare songs accessible enough for a casual listen are generally plucked out of a haze of psyche-folk freak outs.
Maybe it was a track on the highly regarded “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” soundtrack or perhaps the move to a major label, but whatever the inspiration, Banhart has moved toward the mainstream.
His seventh studio album, What Will We Be, has largely retired the acoustic ramblings of his past albums and opted for a brighter, more focused sound that could break down the musical barriers created by his private digressions.
The album’s first single, “Baby,” uses the same R&B-fused groove that “Nick and Norah’s” track “Lover” has but is slowed down to a comfortable mid-tempo cruise.
Banhart has clearly bulked up on genres outside of his folk origins, peppering in jazz-style piano and psychedelic guitar licks all under a folk-rock shell.
“16th & Valencia, Roxy Music” is a more overt homage to foreign styles, calling largely on the sultry beat of glam rock, as Banhart even adopts the quasi-falsetto whisper of T. Rex.
Banhart doesn’t entirely abandon his flower-child roots. However, his folk ballads have taken on an air of sophistication.
“Angelika” has a sunshiny anthemic quality a la M. Ward but is interrupted with a jazz-style middle section that prevents complacent listening.
The poignant camp fire song “Goin’ Back” has the same lightness to it, and the sound of fingers sliding across acoustic guitar strings is a reminder of the raw quality that makes Banhart’s music so endearing.
What We Will Be is not a complete turnaround for Banhart but rather the taming and embellishment of years of haphazardly placed ideas. While this album may lack some of his back-porch-rocking-chair charm, Banhart now has a chance at reaching a larger audience.
— Abby Johnston
Raveonettes
In and Out of Control
Bouncy pop featuring major chords and sugary vocals is usually not the venue where artists tackle issues of addiction, suicide, rape and abuse. But the Raveonettes, a pop duo hailing from Denmark, have successfully packaged some heavy emotional baggage in the lightest pop songs I’ve heard all year.
In and Out of Control, the Raveonettes fourth LP, continues in the path of the band’s earlier work by combining retro arrangements and guitar riffs with a drum machine and the ever-trendy impulse toward droney-sounding vocals.
In and Out of Control opens with “Bang!,” a summertime anthem that, while a few months late, still brings back the smell of waves and the feeling of freedom that the summer months evoke. But “Bang!” falls short in originality, sounding like something straight out of one of those beach craze movies from the late ‘60s.
The albums real gems are “Boys Who Rape Should Be Destroyed,” “Suicide” and “Heart of Stone”.
“Boys Who Rape Should Be Destroyed” is by far my favorite track on the album. An anachronistic pairing of painful lyrics with playful arrangements makes for an offsetting first impression, but the aftertaste of this song is empowering and addictive. Somehow the Raveonettes have translated a tremendously painful emotional trauma into an easy-to-listen-to, doo-wop-esque pop song — all without cheapening the sentiment.
The other highlights of In and Out of Control come from the twangy, almost psychedelic guitar riffs that pervade the album. Dirty and sultry, these riffs, along with a strong rhythm section anchored by a drum machine, make the entire album apt for dancing and general acts of revelry.
— Mary Lingwall
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