Late one night during the summer I got a phone call from a friend in Dublin. He proceeded to shout at me in a slightly pished voice what sounded like - “venra bahnhaat - f***in brrillliiaaant! Brillian’ I tell ya!” and he hung up. Odd enough behavior I suppose but I’m used to it. Reading between the lines I surmised that he had been at Devendra Banhart’s gig that night and I felt slightly annoyed because I hadn’t gone to check him out when he played in my town a night or two earlier.
Anyway Mr. Banhart has a new album out very soon and the first single to be lifted from it is I FEEL LIKE A CHILD. And does it deserve eloquent praise similar to my friend’s above? Well, not quite but it does have some merits. The song itself feels very much like a ‘side 1 track 1’ song, starting off as a ragged slow blues that eventually grinds to a halt before launching off again into a faster more wigged-out acoustic groove. The record is very much seeped in the 60’s - Banhart’s voice reminds one a little of early Marc Bolan, the music of Donovan and the lyrics have an absurd Dylan-esque feel. Quite charming in a folksy way alright but no Vashti Bunyan.
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And speaking of that fine lady the next song STEWED BARK OF AN OLD TREE seems to draw it’s inspiration from her wispy, return-to-nature Folk and it’s a slight tune, again - grand in its own way but nothing too memorable. The strongest song on the single I feel is the last one SHAME. History shows us that stuttering in a song is ALWAYS a good thing and here Banhart’s voice is perfectly suited to the music. A nifty little pop gem that maybe should have been the single leader and with a punchier production might even have grazed the charts. But perhaps that’s not in DB’s masterplan, who knows?
So, final verdict – 2 sides good-ish, 1 side very fine indeed and the single does make this writer look forward to hearing the forthcoming album ‘Cripple Crow’. Now where is the button to block drunken callers on my phone…
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