When Devendra Banhart first emerged two decades ago, his eccentric persona, falsetto-heavy singing, and sprawling aesthetic made him the poster child of the then-burgeoning freak folk movement. He wasn’t merely prolific and extroverted in championing this style-colliding cultural moment, he also worked as an advocate for fellow travelers and overlooked heroes such as the great British folk singer Vashti Bunyan, whose career he helped resurrect. Over time the eccentricities of the Venezuelan-raised explorer have been moderated, and now the tender beauty and airiness of his music is no longer obscured by his old hippie persona. Still, the basic building blocks of his expansive sound endure, blending American folk with acoustic traditions of South America, particularly the breezy pop, spare arrangements and chill bossa nova of Brazil.
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