Devendra Banhart Releases "Memorial"
Third Track from Forthcoming Nonesuch Album Ma
Watch visualizer, featuring Banhart's cover art, HERE
(Photo Credit: Lauren Dukoff | Dowload Hi-Res HERE)
Devendra Banhart releases the third song from his forthcoming album Ma, "Memorial," today. The album will be released on September 13 on Nonesuch Records. A tribute to loved ones who have gone too soon, "Memorial" explores the process of mourning. The intimacy of the recording, the sadness in Banhart's quivering vocals, and the beautiful melancholy of the lyrics showcase an artist attempting to understand death. Asked about the origins of the song, Devendra wrote the below:
Memorial
Is about loss....
&
The strangeness
of feeling
So numb,
and yet
so completely heart-broken-open....
It's about three people I loved very much,
And some of it happened just like it says in the song ....
Someone really did propose at one of the memorials ...
We all thought they would have loved how surreal, romantic, and inappropriate that was...
It's about those last moments,
How painful and perfect they were,
All the tears, all the tears.....
I don't know what else to say,
Except that I wrote the song for you,
to tell you about it, see if maybe you know what I mean,
tell you everything, see if maybe it brings us closer, makes it easier to tell each other how much we love and appreciate one another....
Watch visualizer, which features Banhart's art from the album cover, here:
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Ma, full of tender, autobiographical vignettes, displays a shift from the sonic experimentation of his previous albums to an intricate, captivating story-telling and emotional intimacy. Banhart favors organic sounds to accompany his voice and guitar, the arrangements bolstered by strings, woodwinds, brass, and keyboards. He sings in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The first song released from Ma was "Kantori Ongaku" ("Country Music") which came accompanied by a surrealist video by Giraffe Studios. Last month saw the release of "Abre Los Manos" ("Open Your Hands"), a tender-hearted love letter to his motherland of Venezuela. Ma is available to pre-order here. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an exclusive, limited-edition print, created and signed by Banhart.
(Download Hi-Res Album Art Here)
Banhart recently announced a twenty-five city North American tour for autumn 2019, beginning October 15 in Ventura, CA. This will be his first tour of North America since 2017; an overseas tour will be announced soon. Devendra is partnering with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold in the U.S. will go to World Central Kitchen (WCK), an organization founded by Nobel Peace Prize-nominated chef José Andrés to fight hunger around the world. WCK is currently responding to the crisis on the Colombia-Venezuelan border and has served more than 350,000 meals to date. Tickets here.
Devendra Banhart North American Tour Dates:
09/27/19 - Dana Point, CA @ OHANA Festival
10/15/19 - Ventura, CA @ The Majestic Ventura Theater
10/16/19 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
10/18/19 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
10/19/19 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
10/20/19 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall ^
10/22/19 - Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre
10/24/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel
10/25/19 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Yost Theater
10/26/19 - San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
10/27/19 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
10/30/19 - Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater *
11/01/19 - Omaha, NE @ The Slowdown *
11/02/19 - Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater *
11/03/19 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
11/05/19 - Memphis, TN @ The Hi Tone *
11/07/19 - Austin, TX @ Stubbs (Levitation)
11/23/18 - Leon, Guanajuato Mx @ Tecate Bajio Festival
11/30/19 - Detroit, MI @ Museum of Contemporary Art *
12/01/19 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall *
12/03/19 - Montreal, QC @ The Olympia *
12/04/19 - Boston, MA @ The Wilbur *
12/05/19 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
12/07/19 - Washington, D.C. @ 930 Club *
12/08/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
* w/ Black Belt Eagle Scout
^ w/ Daniel Higgs
"Mr. Banhart is a gifted fantasist, creating spider webs of acoustic guitar and vocals." - New York Times
"An accomplished shaper of moods and atmosphere." - Uncut
"One of the most magnetic performers around." - Guardian
"Banhart's chief talent has always been to write endearing songs." - Q Magazine
"A Devendra Banhart album is akin to an art exhibit of miniatures, the rewards contingent on the viewer's/listener's commitment to exploring each tiny detail in his microcosmic mise-en-scènes. Those rewards here more often are moments of smiling "ahhhhs" than of wide-eyed "A-has!" - The Los Angeles Times
"He's a singularly idiosyncratic and brilliant songwriter" - Under The Radar
"Compared to other folk artists, Banhart always manages to feel unbelievably present, like he's performing in the next room over." - The Line Of Best Fit
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