Devendra Banhart: Mala Album Review

Five years on from the 2009 release of What Will We Be, Mala is Devendra Banharts debut on Nonesuch Records and a perfect comeback.

It's a  sweet, joyous album that is simply dripping  with Banharts playful wit. Electronic, doo-wop, folk and acoustic rock is all present and accounted for on Mala, Banharts guitar-wizardry is able to twist, entwine and otherwise contort all these conflicting sounds into something remarkable.

Your Fine Petting Duck features a duet with fiancée Ana Kras, the two playing the parts of a former partners of a dissolved relationship. Ironic in the sense that it's two, Banhart and Kras, that are singing from the perspectives of two heartbroken people when in fact the two are so close in real life. Midway through, the song starts to get…weird, and it transforms itself into  trippy, electronic freak-out with the two vocalists swopping English lyrics for German...for reasons, truly unknown.
However, it's down in such a way that it feels as if it is a natural progression. Like an evolution of sorts, as if it's the only way for the song to fully progress and reach its full potential.

The Ballad of Keenan Milton is a two minute long mellow, comforting instrumental that sounds like it was recorded late at night, deep with in the confides of a deeper city (the field recording of asiren blaring emphasises this), while A Gain is a surprisingly darker song on the album, with lyrics of worsening woe and regret.

Overall, Mala channels Banharts countless influences into something more comprehensive and understandable to listeners than previous efforts. An obvious change in the quality of his songwriting is present and it feels like, with this new inspiration, Banhart is back to creating astounding and beautiful albums.

8/10

- Kaity Shirley




You need to login or register to post comments.
Discuss this item on the forums. (0 posts)

Hurts – Exile: Album Review


Hurts specialise in that sort of European sounding ''power-pop''. 2010's Happiness was a looming, synthy masterpiece of pop wonder. Three years on and Hurts have planned, crafted and produced Exile.  It feels fuller and it explore more elements of Hurt's song writing capabilities while still in keeping with their chosen, signature sound.

The title song, Exile, bursts in with rewound samples and heavy drums. Vocalist, Theo Hutchcrafts voice soars through the electronic syncopated music. It's more of a dance track than anything else, allowing for longer instrumental spaces. It sounds like a lone disorientating, addled stumble home in the dark, deep in the heart of a city; not truly alone but exiled from those around you. Mercy and Help are also stand out songs on the album, with Hutchcraft and keyboardist/guitarist Adam Anderson showcasing their talents.

A wider use of influences to sound is present, especially in the track Blind. It recalls a Beach Boys-like sound, the harmony and lyrics are obvious in this. A disappointing track on the album is Sandman. Imagine a musical patchwork blanket, and you would have Sandman. Pastiche lyrics, dance beats and childish harmonies are all thrust into one 3 minute and 55 second song.  Only You is so obviously 80s it almost hurts,

Exile isn't an extension of Happiness, it's something unto itself.
It's darker than Happiness could ever be, but in more twisted and deranged ways. It's suggestive and doesn't owe itself the typical and open depression that Happiness owed, allowing Exile to belong to itself.

7/10

- Kait Shirley


You need to login or register to post comments.
Discuss this item on the forums. (0 posts)

Hadouken! Every Weekend: Review


London electronic band, Hadouken! Have released yet another glitchfest of twitchy, dance tracks under the name of Every Weekend, this time under the legendary Ministry of Sound label. Featuring production from names such as Aeph, Loadstar, Noisia and Drumsound & Bassline Smith, Every Weekends tracks are heavily laden with a dubstep and drum n bass sound. It feels as if they (much like many other dance and electronic bands) are jumping onto this dubstep bandwagon as it steadily climbs in popularity.

Lead track The Vortex is a whirring blackhole of sound, pulling the listener into it's steady grasp. It's probably one of the most listenable tracks on the album, albeit perhaps one of the ones worth listening to. Stop Times opening trance instrumental is a nice break from the twitch of the rest of the album, and references to the legendary house duo Daft Punk are obvious throughout in the choice of samples.

As One is a dance epic, plenty if distortion and angry, screaming vocals from frontman James Smith.

Parasite, one of the first singles released, is a typical Hadouken! song in the sense that it features all of the elements of a typical Hadouken! Track (save for some added distortion and screaming), which makes it a tedious listen. To be frank, most of Every Weekend's tracklisting is complied of tiring and exhaustive listens. It's a strain at times to find anything worth mention as most of the album sounds the same. Sure, that's perfect from some but you can't really find growth or merit in an album in which all songs sound like a crude repeat of one another.

In all, Every Weekend is a fitting name for Hadouken!'s latest effort; it's the sound track of every weekend in the nightlife district. It's basically a compilation of the music along with droppings of pop-culture and daily references, especially in Bad Signal.

They’re a band that bridges across genres but one does have to wonder that if the mixing of grime, dubstep and dance in the way that Hadouken! creates is really the way to go about it.

5/10

- Kait Shirley


You need to login or register to post comments.
Discuss this item on the forums. (0 posts)

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away: Album Review

Since the untimely end of Grinderman, talks of a new Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds album was whistling in the wind. Five years on from their last album, The Bad Seeds have climbed out from where ever they had been hiding all this time and have produced Push The Sky Away. It's gorgeously dark and dreary, effortlessly cool and bluesy.

Loops play a vital role on this album; they are what really form the albums sound a whole, a sort of heartbeat that keeps the album going.

Push The Sky Away holds to it quite a few very lovely tracks. Songs that really give you chills and make you appreciate music as an art form.

The almost spoken word tale of Water's Edge is haunting and eerie in only a way the Bad Seeds can deliver.

The rollick-y bassy beat of We So Cool makes its way steadily through the song, sounding rather fearsome. Combined with strings, it’s an odd lively song on the album that makes a change from the rest of The Bad Seeds slower tracks.
Titular tack, Push the Sky Away, is the closest to a church hymn that The Bad Seeds can get. Accompanying an already softly sung Cave is an even softer choir and some rather ethereal sound instrumentation.

The lyrics on the album deal with the odd and fantastical nature of modern day sciences, theories and pop culture. Higgs Boson Blues not only references the worries of modern day physics, but also comments on music culture without seeming forced or picky. Cave isn't pulling apart society or making any pretentious claims, merely commenting.
But of course, that hardly needs to be said with a gifted poet like Cave.

Push The Sky Away is essentially 40 odd minutes of loop-driven blues and Caves usual croon. It doesn't leave the listener with much and it’s not exactly ground breaking but it doesn't really disappoint. The album does have its high points in the form of Water's Edge, We So Cool and Mermaids but it doesn't have anything that subtracts from that. Interestingly enough, while it’s not an un-enjoyable album, you can't help but feel that it lacks something...perhaps one ''off'' sounding song would have changed up the record, given it something with a bit of an edge.
Despite this, it's fantastic to see that The Bad Seeds are alive and kicking, unlike their ''dead brother'' Grinderman.

8/10

- Kait Shirley


You need to login or register to post comments.
Discuss this item on the forums. (0 posts)

Palma Violets – 180: Album Review

Palma Violets are a London four piece that are winning the hearts and minds of all those who have lost faith in the return of guitar bands ever becoming a great as they supposedly once were. Although having only been active since 2011, they have already won a devoted gathering, with comparisons of their sound being sprung at them left, right and centre. Now with their debut, 180, it's time for Palma Violets to prove that they're more than just hype.

They make no bones when it comes to opening the album. 180 starts with the single Best of Friends. The jangly guitar driven single was their most hyped and talked about track. It's jangly guitar and hopeful, slightly melancholic sound make it for a catchy track, it also sets the mood for the rest of the album. The second single from the album, Step Up For The Cool Cats appears as second on the tracklisting, is just as catchy as its predecessor, attaining the listeners attention for the rest of the album.
Chicken Dippers is a really stand out song on the album. Despite it rather comical name, it's filled with thundering, galloping drums and bluesy riffs. The organs add to it a sort of spooky, ethereal feeling to it, allowing lead singer Sam Fryers vocals to emerge at their most powerful. Johnny Bagga' Donuts is another oddly named track that stands out from the others. Drastically different in terms of sound, it's a jovial marching tune that incites memories of 00's indie-rock.

The lyrics on the album really reflect melancholic ideals on growing up, relationships and life in your 20s. While not sounding dark and gothic, the already deepened vocals of Fryer along with the key courtesy of Will Doyle inflict an element of darkness into the album that otherwise would not have existed. This is what differentiates Palma Violets from other artists that they are so blatantly compared to.

One thing that irks me about this particular album is the slight lo-fi quality to the recordings. Fryers vocals often seem crackled and crunchy in a very, perhaps fashionable lo-fi way and this is rather distracting at times, especially on tracks like Rattlesnake Highway. An otherwise brilliant track, it's spoilt by the poor sounding production.   

An interesting title, 180...could it perhaps be a metaphor for 180 degrees and the return of guitar rock into the music scene, with Palma Violets captaining this re-emergence?  
Whatever their intentions, 180 proves that Palma Violets are more than the hype that they've spurned over short period of time. Now only time itself can tell whether or not they have the staying power.

8/10

- Kait Shirley


You need to login or register to post comments.
Discuss this item on the forums. (0 posts)

More Articles...