Devendra Banhart has shared the third track off his September album Ma: “Memorial” is a tender and tragic tribute to those loved and lost, and both its waltz-like melody and Banhart’s mournful tone have shades of Leonard Cohen’s “One of Us Cannot Be Wrong.” In the video visualizer, with artwork by Devendra and animation by Robert Edridge-Waks, abstracted flowers gently die and bloom and die again.
Of the song’s origins, Devendra wrote:
Memorial
Is about loss….
&
The strangeness
of feeling
So numb,
and yet
so completely heart-broken-open….
It’s about three people I loved very much,
And some of it happened just like it says in the song ….
Someone really did propose at one of the memorials …
We all thought they would have loved how surreal, romantic, and inappropriate that was…
It’s about those last moments,
How painful and perfect they were,
All the tears, all the tears…..
I don’t know what else to say,
Except that I wrote the song for you,
to tell you about it, see if maybe you know what I mean,
tell you everything, see if maybe it brings us closer, makes it easier to tell each other how much we love and appreciate one another….
I don’t know…. Maybe , maybe , maybe….
Ma promises more such autobiographical tunes, a shift away from the experimentation of Banhart’s previous albums toward a more intimate vibe, using strings, woodwinds, brass, and keyboards as vocal accompaniments.
You can pre-order the record here, and see below for Banhart’s tour dates. Devendra has partnered with PLUS1, so $1 from every ticket sold in the U.S. will go to World Central Kitchen, an organization founded by chef José Andrés to fight world hunger. Go here to purchase tickets.
Devendra Banhart North American Tour Dates:
09/27/19 – Dana Point, CA @ OHANA Festival
10/15/19 – Ventura, CA @ The Majestic Ventura Theater ^
10/16/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore ^
10/18/19 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom ^
10/19/19 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre ^
10/20/19 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
10/22/19 – Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre
10/24/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel
10/25/19 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Yost Theater
10/26/19 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
10/27/19 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
10/30/19 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater *
11/01/19 – Omaha, NE @ The Slowdown *
11/02/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater *
11/03/19 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
11/05/19 – Memphis, TN @ The Hi Tone *
11/07/19 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs (Levitation)
11/23/19 – Leon, Guanajuato Mx @ Tecate Bajio Festival
11/25/19 – Mexico City, Mx @ El Plaza Condesa
11/30/19 – Detroit, MI @ Museum of Contemporary Art *
12/01/19 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall *
12/03/19 – Montreal, QC @ The Olympia *
12/04/19 – Boston, MA @ The Wilbur *
12/05/19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
12/07/19 – Washington, D.C. @ 930 Club *
12/08/19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
* w/ Black Belt Eagle Scout
^ w/ Daniel Higgs
