Artist: Devendra Banhart
Album: What Will We Be
Year: 2009
Grade: 2.5 pretzels
Being quirky is a trap. On one hand, being an unusual and “weird” musician limits the number of people who will likely enjoy your music. But, if you ever stop being strange in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, you end up alienating the people who like you because you’re a weird musician. No matter what you do, someone, somewhere is going to be annoyed and confused by the music you’re making. If Devendra Banhart doesn’t know this feeling well already, he will soon, as What Will We Be is a jarring departure from his usual “freak-folk” sound.
After building a following on the backs of warped, profoundly unusual albums like Rejoicing In The Hands (2004) and Cripple Crow (2005), What Will We Be is definitely Banhart’s most accessible, coffee-house-ready album yet. His usual oddball melodies and skewed lyrical perspective have been replacement by traditional acoustic strumming, shot through with a inexplicably funky set of rhythms. “Baby” features a bouncy baseline and lots of skittery, country-ish guitar squiggles, while “Goin’ Back” could pass for an M. Ward song. For whatever reason, Banhart has exorcised most of his established identity from his music, resulting in an album of folkie-indie dreck, far too similar to what I hear every day on my college’s radio station.
After building a following on the backs of warped, profoundly unusual albums like Rejoicing In The Hands (2004) and Cripple Crow (2005), What Will We Be is definitely Banhart’s most accessible, coffee-house-ready album yet. His usual oddball melodies and skewed lyrical perspective have been replacement by traditional acoustic strumming, shot through with a inexplicably funky set of rhythms. “Baby” features a bouncy baseline and lots of skittery, country-ish guitar squiggles, while “Goin’ Back” could pass for an M. Ward song. For whatever reason, Banhart has exorcised most of his established identity from his music, resulting in an album of folkie-indie dreck, far too similar to what I hear every day on my college’s radio station.
While I’m aware that Banhart’s star has been rising the past couple of years (even featuring a cameo in Nick And Nora’s Infinite Playlist), I can’t quite understand why he’s chosen to release an album this dreary and drab. If anything, I usually relied on Banhart to release albums that alienated me through weirdness, instead of boringly slick production. Yet, here I am, listening to the piano-led slow jazz of “Chin Chin & Muck Muck”, which has nothing more interesting than its title going for it.
I’m the first person to admit it: artistic growth happens. I’m not in a position to say what Devendra Banhart should or should not be recording. All I know is that What Will We Be doesn’t hold my attention and sounds suspiciously similar to every other interchangeable singer-songwriter winning the hearts of college students the world over. Perhaps this is all a calculated move to appeal to a wider audience and, as the cynic in me is quick to point out, it could actually work. But I can’t help but be disappointed when I hear an artist sacrificing the qualities that make them unique. Please go back to being insanely weird, Devendra. I’ll probably still be alienated by your music, but at least I’ll respect you for it.
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