Devendra Banhart has released his new song, “Nun”, the third to be taken from his upcoming album, Flying Wig, out on September 22nd via Mexican Summer. The song, led by buoyant keyboards and a whispered, delicate vocal, finds Devendra grooving in a loop: “Running, Running, Running.” Listen to it now below.
Of the new track, Devendra says, “‘Nun’ was written in a Nunnery in Northern Nepal … it’s a simple metaphor: we can run to something, run for something, run out of something …..an archetype with plenty of elasticity.”
Banhart recently announced openers for his world tour in the fall, including Hayden Pedigo, Le Ren, Miho Hatori, Soma, John Moods, Rogov, and – following an epic performance at the Hollywood Bowl in support of Carla Morrison – has announced his own headline West Coast shows in December. All dates below.
Banhart has established himself as a lauded visual artist in tandem with his work in music, has been crafting intricate and captivating albums since 2002. Flying Wig, recorded in Topanga Canyon, Southern California with acclaimed Welsh musician Cate Le Bon as producer, is a landscape of recurrent dualities; a can of paradoxes, a box of worms. What goes up, must come down, eventually. “It’s about transmuting despair into gratitude, wounds into forgiveness, grief into praise,” ruminates Banhart.
The redwood and pine-surrounded cabin studio (once owned by Neil Young) where Banhart was “constantly listening to the Grateful Dead” somehow birthed something slick, city pop-adjacent and Eno-esque. The album’s contributing circle was kept small and familiar; its personnel drawn from both artists’ tried, tested and trusted list of collaborators (Nicole Lawrence on pedal steel and guitar, Todd Dahlhoff on bass, Greg Rogove on drums, Euan Hinshelwood on saxophone), with Le Bon playing a panoply of additional parts (synths, guitar, percussion, bass, piano) herself. The record’s finishing touches also came courtesy of Le Bon stalwarts, with mixing and engineering by Samur Khouja and mastering by Heba Kadry.
Stepping outside of himself to examine the unspeakable, Devendra Banhart is suddenly freer than a bird. He is as free as a wig that transcends the body, transcends the head, and makes for the clouds.
DEVENDRA BANHART WORLD TOUR DATES
Oct 3 Iowa City, IA The Englert Theatre +
Oct 4 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall *
Oct 6 Toronto, ONT The Phoenix Concert Theatre *
Oct 7 Montreal, QC Corona Theatre *
Oct 8 Burlington, VT Higher Ground *
Oct 9 Boston, MA The Sinclair @
Oct 11 New York, NY Webster Hall @
Oct 12 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer @
Oct 13 Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Lanes ^
Oct 14 Washington, DC The Howard Theatre #
Nov 7 Lisbon, PT Coliseu
Nov 8 Braga, PT Theatro Circo
Nov 10 Madrid, ES Palacio Municipal %
Nov 11 Valencia, ES La Rambleta %
Nov 12 Barcelona, ES Paral.lel 62 %
Nov 14 Paris, FR Le Grand Rex %
Nov 15 London, UK Troxy %
Nov 18 Lyon, FR Le Transbordeur %
Nov 19 Lausanne, CH Theatre de l’Octogone %
Nov 21 Milan, IT Auditorium Fondazione Cariplo %
Nov 22 Trieste, IT Teatro Politeama Rossetti %
Nov 23 Vienna, AT Globe %
Nov 25 Berlin, DE Passionskirche %
Nov 26 Hamburg, DE Kampnagel %
Nov 28 Amsterdam, NL Paradiso %
Nov 29 Brussels, BE Ancienne Belgique %
Dec 6 San Diego, CA Observatory North Park !
Dec 7 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco !
Dec 8 San Luis Obispo Fremont Theater +
Dec 9 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore !
Dec 11 Portland, OR Revolution Hall !
Dec 12 Seattle, Wa Neptune Theatre !
Dec 13 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom !
! with Hayden Pedigo
* with Le Ren
@ with Miho Hatori
^ with Soma
% with John Moods
+ with Rogov
# with H. Hawkline