Ma (2019), the tenth album from American-Venezuelan freak-folk artist Devendra Banhart is a fully articulated contemplation on love and all that binds humans together. Musically, the album carries over electronic elements from Mala (2013) as well as the acoustic folk and cosmic elements characteristic of Banhart’s style on early albums like Cripple Crow (2005) and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (2007). A mellow energy carries the music throughout the album as it reflects on maternal and compassionate themes. Fantastic songs abound on the record, and Grammy-winning producer Noah Georgeson gives several tracks a crisp finish.
“Is This Nice?” opens up the album with guitar, harp, and strings, rhythmically swinging back and forth, almost like a lullaby between Banhart’s soothing voice. Banhart sings as his own mother gives him the following advice:
The grass grows and grows/ The wind blows and blows/ My beautiful boy /My beautiful boy / Better to understand /Than to be understood /This is quite good /This is quite good
The rhythmic lullaby sounds almost like the wind as the music transitions into “Kantori Ongaku,” a tribute to Haruomi Hosono, founder of Japanese pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra.
“Kantori Ongaku” contains several layers of keyboards and guitars that give a comforting backdrop to an abstract freak-folk verse. Banhart sings:
Press the button of world peace/ And wipe out everything but the moon/ Ooh, kantori ongaku/ Shikata ga nai/ Like a flower on an east end block/ Living from groupie to groupie /That’s all the love that some of us know/ That’s all the love some know
The title of the track translates to “country music,” and the absurdist verse seems to touch on world peace’s complexity and types of love.
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“Ami” is a strange song, both lyrically and sonically. Banhart sings “I want to be a streetlamp… I want to be a lion. Something to rely on.” Along with “My Boyfriend’s in the Band,” this is one of the more forgettable songs on the album, as it sounds like filler for the tracklist.
Following the multitude of multi-layered tracks it is refreshing to hear “Memorial,” a simple acoustic guitar song that is an earnest and heartfelt eulogy for a deceased lover. Banhart’s deep voice tenderly sings, ”I couldn’t get through my song for you / When it came to saying your name / … Meeting all of the people / I’ve heard of from your past / Reading through all of your letters / Looking for your love.”
“Now All Gone” features some of the most dominant percussion on the album, with a catchy drum hook and a bizarre half-shouted chorus. “Now All Gone” is accompanied by high pitched flutes, creating a hypnotic, surreal journey.
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Some of the most beautiful vocals on the album come on “Carolina” as Banhart’s voice drips of sweet affection among soft, steady guitar strumming and occasional splashes of synthesizer. “Yo queria cantar Carolina (I wanted to sing to Carolina),” he sings. The repetition of her name becomes a hypnotic self-contained message of love.
“Love Song” is a laid back song with a groovy, off-kilter beat created by horns, percussion, guitar, and flute for the chorus. Love is described “like falling without ever landing,” as Banhart sings. “This is the feeling. I get it all the time. I want to dance. I want to lose my mind.”
The layered instruments and swinging vocal and instrumental harmonies about opening up your hands to give and receive love make “Abre Las Manos” a wonderful song. The lyrics translate to “Open your hands the sky guards you, a gift only for you / And the blue of your skin / Close your eyes and look at your soul a leaf in the tree of love. Open your eyes and see that a branch loves you.” The music contains a message of seeking out love in the world, as well as natural analogies that we are all part of greater symbolic trees of love.
“Taking a Page” is one of the few tracks where all the instruments come across as doing too much, with several disparate elements never quite meshing together.
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“October 12” simply contains an acoustic guitar and very sad vibes are accentuated by strings added part of the way through the song. The lyrics “Lagrimas sin parar (Tears without end)” and “Musica de máquinas ayudándote a respirar…. Todo se fue transformado… No puedo escapar (Music of machines helping you breathe… All was transformed… I can’t escape)” add to a sense of bitter gloominess, and potentially offer a critique of a technological society that Banhart feels is inescapable.
The album concludes with what is for Banhart a simple love song, “Will I See You Tonight?” Strings, keys, and drums back up Vashti Bunyan’s strong vocal contributions. Bunyan and Banhart’s duet in the closing lines give emotional power to the song.
Overall, Ma (2019) combines many of the best elements from Banhart’s previous albums, like abstract poetic lyrics, strong production on multi-layered tracks, and sparse sentimental acoustic songs to create a magnificent, understated album revolving around themes of human connection and love.
Article by Jack Austin