Devendra Banhart has shared a new song from his forthcoming album, Ma: "Abre Las Manos," which translates to "Open Your Hands." The song, sung in Spanish, was inspired by Banhart's relationship with his motherland, Venezuela, and was released along with a slideshow of amateur Flickr photos of Caracas and El Avila National Park in Venezuela, which you can watch here.
Devendra Banhart has released the second song from his forthcoming album, Ma: "Abre Las Manos," which translates to "Open Your Hands." The album will be released on September 13 on Nonesuch Records. Like many of the songs on Ma, "Abre Las Manos," which is sung in Spanish (lyrics and English translation below), was inspired by Banhart's relationship with his motherland, Venezuela. Today's release is accompanied by this slideshow of amateur photographs taken from Flickr of Caracas and El Avila National Park in Venezuela that were licensed through Creative Commons:
"My brother is in Venezuela, my cousins, my aunts and uncles. They are just holding their breath, in gridlock standstill. Maybe there is more Spanish writing on Ma because of the helplessness I'm feeling, it's on my mind more than ever. I was thinking about the sorrow of having to put a child up for adoption, loving that child but not being with them, for whatever reason. That child is out in the world and you have to love them from afar. And that is exactly how I have felt observing the situation in Venezuela," Banhart says. "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."
For his autumn tour in support of Ma, he's partnering with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold in the US 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. For details on his tour, his first of North America since 2017, see below and visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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. The first song from the new album was unveiled last month. "Kantori Ongaku" ("Country Music") was accompanied by a surrealist video by Giraffe Studios. Ma is available to pre-order here. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include instant downloads of "Kantori Ongaku" and "Abre Las Manos," plus an exclusive, limited-edition print, created and signed by Banhart. Ed: The limited-edition autographed print included with initial pre-orders is no longer available.
| Sep 27 | Ohana Festival | Dana Point, CA |
| Oct 15 | The Majestic Ventura Theater | Ventura, CA |
| Oct 16 | The Fillmore | San Francisco, CA |
| Oct 18 | Crystal Ballroom | Portland, OR |
| Oct 19 | Moore Theatre | Seattle, WA |
| Oct 20 | WOW Hall | Eugene, OR |
| Oct 22 | The UC Theatre | Berkeley, CA |
| Oct 24 | The Theatre at Ace Hotel | Los Angeles, CA |
| Oct 25 | The Yost Theater | Santa Ana, CA |
| Oct 26 | The Observatory North Park | San Diego, CA |
| Oct 27 | Crescent Ballroom | Phoenix, AZ |
| Oct 30 | Boulder Theater | Boulder, CO |
| Nov 1 | The Slowdown | Omaha, NE |
| Nov 2 | Varsity Theater | Minneapolis, MN |
| Nov 3 | Thalia Hall | Chicago, IL |
| Nov 5 | The Hi Tone | Memphis, TN |
| Nov 7 | Levitation Festival | Austin, TX |
| Nov 23 | Tecate Bajío Festival | León, Guanajuato, MEXICO |
| Nov 30 | Museum of Contemporary Art | Detroit, MI |
| Dec 1 | Danforth Music Hall | Toronto, ON |
| Dec 3 | The Olympia | Montreal, QC |
| Dec 4 | The Wilbur | Boston, MA |
| Dec 5 | Brooklyn Steel | Brooklyn, NY |
| Dec 7 | 9:30 Club | Washington, DC |
| Dec 8 | Union Transfer | Philadelphia, PA |
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Abre Las Manos Abre las alas el mundo te espera Abre las manos el cielo te guarda El verde de tu pelo Cierra tus ojos y mira tu alma Abre los ojos mira quien te ama Tu dios es me diosa Mi diosa es tu dios Mira el abasto cubrido de sangre Mira el museo fue destrozado Mira la fila veinte mil horas Que porcentaje de gente con hambre Ayer mi vecina fue secuestrada Abre las manos el mundo te espera Es solo pa ti |
Open Your Hands Open your wings the world awaits you Open your hands the sky keeps you The green of your hair Look at your eyes and look at your soul Open your eyes see who loves you Your god is goddess My goddess is your god Look at the supply covered with blood Look at the museum was destroyed Look at the line, a thousand hours What percentage of people gone hungry Yesterday my neighbor was kidnapped Open your hands the world awaits you It's just for you |
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