Ma

Submitted by nonesuch on
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

Devendra Banhart's album Ma bursts with tender, autobiographical vignettes, displaying a shift from the sonic experimentation of his previous albums to an intricate, captivating story-telling and emotional intimacy. The album was produced by his longtime musical compadre Noah Georgeson and includes a background vocal from Cate Le Bon and a duet with Banhart's mentor, muse, and dear friend Vashti Bunyan. This is "sublimely understated, border-blurring folk rock," says the Los Angeles Times. "Banhart's singular world remains as intoxicating as ever," says Q. "It feels as if all of human life is here." 

Description

Devendra Banhart's new album, Ma, was released September 13, 2019, on Nonesuch Records. This is Banhart's first album since 2016's Ape in Pink Marble. Ma, bursting with 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. 

"Kantori Ongaku" translates from Japanese to "country music" and is a nod to experimental pop legend Haruomi Hosono, a founding member of the influential electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra. The song's video features a full circle journey of vignettes that play on the dream-like quality of intimate activities. The video, colorfully directed by Giraffe Studios, also features guest cameos and a brief infomercial pleading for donations to the I Love Venezuela Foundation.

The simply titled Ma is Devendra Banhart's third album for Nonesuch, one that addresses—often in a beguilingly oblique way—the unconditional nature of maternal love, the desire to nurture, the passing down of wisdom, the longing to establish the relationship of mother to child, and the consequences of that bond being broken. Banhart doesn't approach the album's maternal theme in a literal way; rather, by contemplating it, alluding to it, regarding the concept of motherhood from different angles, he has fashioned an album of multiple, intertwining narratives. Its concerns are both personal and global, with subtly autobiographical looks at life and death and ruminations about the precarious state of the world. The many lighthearted moments of Ma are balanced by deeply melancholic, even somber ones. Three tracks are in Spanish, the language that is as much Banhart's native tongue as English, and one in Portuguese.

Banhart, who spent his childhood in Venezuela, has been profoundly affected by the poverty and despair he's witnessed there. His concern over the dire situation in his motherland drew him back to the Spanish language: "My brother is in Venezuela, my cousins, my aunts and uncles. They are just holding their breath, in gridlock standstill.There's this helplessness. This place that has been a mother to you, that you're a mother to as well, and it's suffering so much. There is nothing you can do but send out love and remain in that sorrowful state."

Working with Grammy Award–winning producer-musician and longtime musical compadre Noah Georgeson, the two started this particular musical journey when they were invited to record in a special room at a venerable old temple in Kyoto, after a short Asian tour. That served as a musical and spiritual prelude to what was to come. Back in California, they recorded at 64 Sound and Sea Horse Studios in Los Angeles and Anderson Canyon in Big Sur. Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon contributes background vocals on "Now All Gone" and Banhart's mentor, muse, and dear friend, the folk legend Vashti Bunyan, duets with him on "Will I See You Tonight." Notes Banhart, "Vashti is the archetype of the mother, one of the most important people in my life. It was so beautiful to sing this duet with her."

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced and mixed by Noah Georgeson
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova
Engineered by Noah Georgeson, Tyler Karmen, Samur Khouja, and Jeremy Harris
Recorded at 64 Sound in Los Angeles, CA, Anderson Canyon in Big Sur, CA, Seahorse Studios in Los Angeles, CA, and Panoramic House in West Marin, CA

Paintings by Devendra Banhart
Design and layout by Osk Studio

All music and lyrics by Devendra Banhart except for “Abre Las Manos,” by Banhart and Georgeson, and “Taking a Page,” by Banhart and Carole King

Nonesuch Selection Number

599193

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Devendra Banhart
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Devendra Banhart, guitar, vocals, temple bells, synth
Danny Bensi, violin, viola, cello
Amir Yaghmai, violin, viola
Greg Rogove, drums, percussion
Todd Dahlhoff, bass
Jeremy Harris, piano, flute, synth, drums, guitar, xylophone
Noah Georgeson, synth, electric guitar, backing vocals, guitar
Tyler Cash, piano, pianet
David Ralicke, saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flutes
Andy Cabic, backing vocals
Josh Adams, drums, percussion
Jordan Katz, trumpet, french horn, flugelhorn
Cate Le Bon, backing vocals
Josiah Steinbrick, vibraphone, synths
Jordan Ralicke, flutes
Rodrigo Amarante, guitar
The Pacific Ocean, ocean sounds
Vashti Bunyan, backing vocals

String arrangements by Devendra Banhart, Danny Bensi, Amir Yaghma, and Noah Georgeson

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
Limited-Edition Clear LP+MP3
UPC
075597923506
Label
LP+MP3
Price
21.00
UPC
075597924008
Label
CD+MP3
Price
13.00
UPC
075597923995
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597924053
Label
FLAC
Price
10.00
UPC
075597924015
  • 599193

News & Reviews

  • About This Album

    Devendra Banhart's new album, Ma, was released September 13, 2019, on Nonesuch Records. This is Banhart's first album since 2016's Ape in Pink Marble. Ma, bursting with 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. 

    "Kantori Ongaku" translates from Japanese to "country music" and is a nod to experimental pop legend Haruomi Hosono, a founding member of the influential electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra. The song's video features a full circle journey of vignettes that play on the dream-like quality of intimate activities. The video, colorfully directed by Giraffe Studios, also features guest cameos and a brief infomercial pleading for donations to the I Love Venezuela Foundation.

    The simply titled Ma is Devendra Banhart's third album for Nonesuch, one that addresses—often in a beguilingly oblique way—the unconditional nature of maternal love, the desire to nurture, the passing down of wisdom, the longing to establish the relationship of mother to child, and the consequences of that bond being broken. Banhart doesn't approach the album's maternal theme in a literal way; rather, by contemplating it, alluding to it, regarding the concept of motherhood from different angles, he has fashioned an album of multiple, intertwining narratives. Its concerns are both personal and global, with subtly autobiographical looks at life and death and ruminations about the precarious state of the world. The many lighthearted moments of Ma are balanced by deeply melancholic, even somber ones. Three tracks are in Spanish, the language that is as much Banhart's native tongue as English, and one in Portuguese.

    Banhart, who spent his childhood in Venezuela, has been profoundly affected by the poverty and despair he's witnessed there. His concern over the dire situation in his motherland drew him back to the Spanish language: "My brother is in Venezuela, my cousins, my aunts and uncles. They are just holding their breath, in gridlock standstill.There's this helplessness. This place that has been a mother to you, that you're a mother to as well, and it's suffering so much. There is nothing you can do but send out love and remain in that sorrowful state."

    Working with Grammy Award–winning producer-musician and longtime musical compadre Noah Georgeson, the two started this particular musical journey when they were invited to record in a special room at a venerable old temple in Kyoto, after a short Asian tour. That served as a musical and spiritual prelude to what was to come. Back in California, they recorded at 64 Sound and Sea Horse Studios in Los Angeles and Anderson Canyon in Big Sur. Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon contributes background vocals on "Now All Gone" and Banhart's mentor, muse, and dear friend, the folk legend Vashti Bunyan, duets with him on "Will I See You Tonight." Notes Banhart, "Vashti is the archetype of the mother, one of the most important people in my life. It was so beautiful to sing this duet with her."

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Devendra Banhart, guitar, vocals, temple bells, synth
    Danny Bensi, violin, viola, cello
    Amir Yaghmai, violin, viola
    Greg Rogove, drums, percussion
    Todd Dahlhoff, bass
    Jeremy Harris, piano, flute, synth, drums, guitar, xylophone
    Noah Georgeson, synth, electric guitar, backing vocals, guitar
    Tyler Cash, piano, pianet
    David Ralicke, saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flutes
    Andy Cabic, backing vocals
    Josh Adams, drums, percussion
    Jordan Katz, trumpet, french horn, flugelhorn
    Cate Le Bon, backing vocals
    Josiah Steinbrick, vibraphone, synths
    Jordan Ralicke, flutes
    Rodrigo Amarante, guitar
    The Pacific Ocean, ocean sounds
    Vashti Bunyan, backing vocals

    String arrangements by Devendra Banhart, Danny Bensi, Amir Yaghma, and Noah Georgeson

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced and mixed by Noah Georgeson
    Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova
    Engineered by Noah Georgeson, Tyler Karmen, Samur Khouja, and Jeremy Harris
    Recorded at 64 Sound in Los Angeles, CA, Anderson Canyon in Big Sur, CA, Seahorse Studios in Los Angeles, CA, and Panoramic House in West Marin, CA

    Paintings by Devendra Banhart
    Design and layout by Osk Studio

    All music and lyrics by Devendra Banhart except for “Abre Las Manos,” by Banhart and Georgeson, and “Taking a Page,” by Banhart and Carole King