Devendra Banhart has announced a new album, Flying Wig, which will be out September 22 via Mexican Summer. This is his 11th album and first for Mexican Summer, and he made it with Cate Le Bon, who produced. “She’s the only person I wanted to make this record with,” Banhart says of Le Bon. “We set out to make a record sonically unlike anything I have made before – with a new creative partner at the helm. We definitely wanted a new sound, electronic yet organic and warm…we wanted to draw out and emphasize the emotional aspect of a synthesizer.”
The first single, “Twin,” explores dark, slinky synths and liquid basslines that recall Berlin-era Bowie or David Sylvian’s group Japan. The cinematic video was directed by Matt Muir, who says, “When Devendra and I originally discussed the creative approach to the ‘Twin’ music video, I really responded to the idea of searching for connection. We talked about the strange comfort of knowing that other people have experienced the pain or entrapment that we may be experiencing. I wanted to explore a framework where Devendra’s character is trapped in a cycle, but still finds beauty in the execution. Stylistically, we were definitely inspired by neon-soaked 1980’s neo-noir films, but we still wanted the video to feel somewhat timeless. We also left a lot of room for improvisation on the set, to make sure Devendra’s unique sense of humor was evident in the storytelling. He was such a supportive and inventive collaborator during the entire process, and I think that really shines through in the final piece.”
Watch the video, and read more about the album via a note from Devendra, below.
Devendra has also announced a world tour which includes North American dates this fall. The NYC stop is at Webster Hall on October 11. Tickets for that show and the other dates on the tour go on sale Friday, June 16 at 10 AM local time. Check out the full tour schedule below.
Flying Wig
01. Feeling
02. Fireflies
03. Nun
04. Sight Seer
05. Sirens
06. Charger
07. Flying Wig
08. Twin
09. May
10. The Party
This entire record was inspired by Kobayashi Issa’s poem
This dewdrop world-
Is a dewdrop world,
And yet,
And yet…
I’ve never read a more concise and clear illustration of hope… it just sweeps me away by the breadth of its scope…. as lonely as we might feel at our saddest, angriest, most desperate, most frustrated, most hopeless, most heartbroken moments, we have all felt that, everyone on earth, our ancestors before us, and those that will come after, have or will feel that…. The “and yet , and yet” is our ability to face despair with hope, to keep on failing and loving ….
It’s about transmuting despair into gratitude, wounds into forgiveness, grief into praise,” ruminates Banhart. Gliding through the air, the whisper of two buoyant words symbolically and at times, literally appear — “and yet…” — coloring in the melancholic outlines and replacing them with a bonded optimism.
-Devendra Banhart
Devendra Banhart – 2023 Tour Dates
Oct 3 Iowa City, IA The Englert Theatre
Oct 4 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
Oct 6 Toronto, ONT The Phoenix Concert Theatre
Oct 7 Montreal, QC Corona Theatre
Oct 8 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
Oct 9 Boston, MA The Sinclair
Oct 11 New York, NY Webster Hall
Oct 12 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
Oct 13 Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Lanes
Oct 14 Washington, DC The Howard Theatre
Nov 7 Lisbon, PT Coliseu
Nov 8 Braga, PT Theatro Circo
Nov 10 Madrid, ES Palacio Municipal
Nov 11 Valencia, ES La Rambleta
Nov 12 Barcelona, ES Paral.lel 62
Nov 14 Paris, FR Le Grand Rex
Nov 15 London, UK Troxy
Nov 18 Lyon, FR Le Transbordeur
Nov 19 Lausanne, CH Theatre de l’Octogone
Nov 21 Milan, IT Auditorium Fondazione Cariplo
Nov 22 Trieste, IT Teatro Politeama Rossetti
Nov 23 Vienna, AT Globe
Nov 25 Berlin, DE Passionskirche
Nov 26 Hamburg, DE Kampnagel
Nov 28 Amsterdam, NL Paradiso
Nov 29 Brussels, BE Ancienne Belgique
Dec 6 San Diego, CA Observatory North Park
Dec 7 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco
Dec 9 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
Dec 11 Portland, OR Revolution Hall
Dec 12 Seattle, Wa Neptune Theatre
Dec 13 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom