Nonesuch Records Signs Singer/Songwriter Devendra Banhart, Releases Label Debut, "Mala," in Spring 2013

Browse by:
Year
Browse by:
Publish date (field_publish_date)
Submitted by nonesuch on
Article Type
Publish date
Excerpt

Devendra Banhart, who has just been signed to Nonesuch Records, releases his label debut, Mala, in the spring of 2013. The singer/songwriter co-produced the record with his longtime bandmate, guitarist Noah Georgeson. Further details about the album and its release will be announced shortly, as will upcoming festival and tour dates.

Copy

Devendra Banhart, who has just been signed to Nonesuch Records, releases his label debut, Mala, in the spring of 2013. The singer/songwriter co-produced the record with his longtime bandmate, guitarist Noah Georgeson. Further details about the album and its release will be announced shortly, as will upcoming festival and tour dates.

Banhart’s most recent release, 2009’s What Will We Be, received critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone calling it “the best he’s ever made.” The Los Angeles Times said the record “found him making comfortable, laid-back folk that didn’t sound like a compromise—more like an artist growing into his own.”

Devendra Banhart was born in Houston, TX, and moved with his mother to her native Caracas, Venezuela, when his parents separated. The family relocated to Los Angeles during his teenage years; it was there that he learned to speak English, skateboard, and play music. Banhart first began to perform in public while attending the San Francisco Art Institute. He has since lived in Los Angeles, Paris, San Francisco, and New York City, where he currently resides.

Banhart first attracted international notice with his 2002 debut album, Oh Me Oh My … The Way the Day Goes By the Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs of the Christmas Spirit—a collection of recordings he had made for himself. Pitchfork said in its review: “Banhart’s promising debut is the sign of someone destined for great, strange things.”

Of the follow-up, Rejoicing in the Hands, the Times of London said, “The last time such a prodigious talent came on the scene was when Jeff Buckley released his first album, perhaps a fine reference point for the ambition and ability at play here; but Banhart—less refined but more audaciously gifted—sings his own song, and seems blissfully oblivious to the idea that anyone might be listening. But, soon, many will be.” Subsequent albums include Niño Rojo, Cripple Crow, and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon.

Banhart has collaborated with fellow musicians including Antony and the Johnsons, Beck, Vashti Bunyan, Os Mutantes, Swans, and Vetiver. He also has performed with both Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, and was part of a David Byrne–curated concert at Carnegie Hall.

An accomplished visual artist, Banhart’s distinctive, minutely inked, often enigmatic drawings have appeared in galleries all over the world, including the Art Basel Contemporary Art Fair in Miami; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels; and Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art. He has created the cover art for most of his records, and in 2010 his artwork and packaging for What Will We Be was nominated for a Grammy.

featuredimage
Devendra Banhart by Ana Kras
  • Monday, December 3, 2012
    Nonesuch Records Signs Singer/Songwriter Devendra Banhart, Releases Label Debut, "Mala," in Spring 2013
    Ana Kras

    Devendra Banhart, who has just been signed to Nonesuch Records, releases his label debut, Mala, in the spring of 2013. The singer/songwriter co-produced the record with his longtime bandmate, guitarist Noah Georgeson. Further details about the album and its release will be announced shortly, as will upcoming festival and tour dates.

    Banhart’s most recent release, 2009’s What Will We Be, received critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone calling it “the best he’s ever made.” The Los Angeles Times said the record “found him making comfortable, laid-back folk that didn’t sound like a compromise—more like an artist growing into his own.”

    Devendra Banhart was born in Houston, TX, and moved with his mother to her native Caracas, Venezuela, when his parents separated. The family relocated to Los Angeles during his teenage years; it was there that he learned to speak English, skateboard, and play music. Banhart first began to perform in public while attending the San Francisco Art Institute. He has since lived in Los Angeles, Paris, San Francisco, and New York City, where he currently resides.

    Banhart first attracted international notice with his 2002 debut album, Oh Me Oh My … The Way the Day Goes By the Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs of the Christmas Spirit—a collection of recordings he had made for himself. Pitchfork said in its review: “Banhart’s promising debut is the sign of someone destined for great, strange things.”

    Of the follow-up, Rejoicing in the Hands, the Times of London said, “The last time such a prodigious talent came on the scene was when Jeff Buckley released his first album, perhaps a fine reference point for the ambition and ability at play here; but Banhart—less refined but more audaciously gifted—sings his own song, and seems blissfully oblivious to the idea that anyone might be listening. But, soon, many will be.” Subsequent albums include Niño Rojo, Cripple Crow, and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon.

    Banhart has collaborated with fellow musicians including Antony and the Johnsons, Beck, Vashti Bunyan, Os Mutantes, Swans, and Vetiver. He also has performed with both Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, and was part of a David Byrne–curated concert at Carnegie Hall.

    An accomplished visual artist, Banhart’s distinctive, minutely inked, often enigmatic drawings have appeared in galleries all over the world, including the Art Basel Contemporary Art Fair in Miami; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels; and Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art. He has created the cover art for most of his records, and in 2010 his artwork and packaging for What Will We Be was nominated for a Grammy.

    Journal Articles:Album ReleaseArtist News

Enjoy This Post?

Get weekly updates right in your inbox.
terms

X By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Nonesuch based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Thank you!
x

Welcome to Nonesuch's mailing list!

Customize your notifications for tour dates near your hometown, birthday wishes, or special discounts in our online store!
terms

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Nonesuch based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Related Posts

  • Thursday, March 14, 2024
    Thursday, March 14, 2024

    Brad Mehldau’s After Bach II and Après Fauré are due May 10 on Nonesuch Records. The Bach album comprises four preludes and one fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, as well as the Allemande from the fourth Partita, interspersed with seven compositions or improvisations by Mehldau inspired by the complementary works of Bach—including Mehldau’s Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme. On Après Fauré, Mehldau performs four nocturnes, from a thirty-seven-year span of Gabriel Fauré’s career, as well as a reduction of an excerpt from the Adagio movement of his Piano Quartet in G Minor. Here Mehldau’s four compositions that Fauré inspired are presented in a group, bookended by two sections featuring the French composer’s works.

    Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist News
  • Tuesday, March 12, 2024
    Tuesday, March 12, 2024

    Bolivian-born singer and multimedia performer Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti and Chicago expat jazz drummer Frank Rosaly will release MESTIZX, their debut full-length album as co-composers, arrangers, and musicians, May 3 on International Anthem / Nonesuch Records. Partners in both marriage and art, the Amsterdam-based duo dove deep into the sounds of their respective ancestral roots in Bolivia, Brazil, and Puerto Rico to create this deeply personal meditation on decolonization and the defiant power of ritual and protest.

    Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist NewsVideo