When I got into the indie music scene, Devendra Banhart was one of the first musicians I listened to. In 2004 he released both Rejoicing in the Hands and Niño Rojo, which are fantastic albums. A year later he released the magnificent Cripple Crow which is my personal favorite of his and one of my favorite albums of all time. Then came Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. It wasn't terrible, but didn't match up to his previous efforts. Then Devendra started dating Natalie Portman, made a cameo in a Hollywood film and signed to a major label, Warner, for his next release What Will We Be. Needless to say, I was a little frightened to see what would happen next.
What Will We Be starts with "Can't Help But Smiling", a catchy song that unfortunately doesn't go anywhere. With one verse, the same chord progression and it's short running time, it's a pretty weak opener. Thankfully, "Angelika" brings something to the table. A sunny track consisting of a bright acoustic guitar, a shaker and a catchy melody. While it's not an amazing song, it at least brings up the pace of the album.
"Baby" is the first single of the album. It's a groovy (yeah, it's the only way to describe it) track with about four clean electric guitar parts plucking and strumming in every direction. We're finally getting somewhere. It's still a flawed song which borders on cheesy but it's an understandable first single."Goin Back" is a Cat Stevens sounding folk song that finally channels the old Devendra.
"First Song For B" is a ballad stripped down to just piano and vocals. Using a melody straight out of an older song of his (it's okay, i'll let it slide), this is one of the highlights of the album. It leads into "Last Song For B", a slow acoustic song with birds in the distance and Devendras strongest lyrics on the album. Both of these tracks are great and make up the high point of What Will We Be.
"Chin Chin & Muck Muck" starts out as a jazz song that sounds right out of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The music is beautiful and the lyrics are decent but then the song changes completely into something else. It's a three part song which is an idea he mastered with the old track "Seahorse" but didn't here. It's still an alright track that has it's moments. "16th and Valencia Roxy Music" is another highlight, with a very catchy chorus of Devendra and friends shouting "Tonight, we're gonna find our lover / Tonight, we're gonna find our man" while the drums slam out sixteenth notes. The sound is one of the many new directions for Devendra, and it's a successful one.
The rest of the album contains a few bland tracks that don't really stand out. So overall it's an attempt at a new sound that proved somewhat successful but fell short overall. Compared to some of his previous releases, this album is only okay.
I know this review was also only okay but I couldn't gather the strength to delve deep into this album. Sorry babycakes!
7.5/10
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