Flying Wig

Description

Flying Wig by Devendra Banhart is a box of paradoxes. Tested by life and grief, Devendra Banhart found himself discouraged, withdrawn, struggling to speak, and even more so to sing. His eleventh studio album aims to transform despair into gratitude, wounds into forgiveness, and sorrow into praise. Turning his back on the screaming sirens of Los Angeles, he packed up the sketches that would become the songs of Flying Wig and took refuge in the isolated woods of a Topanga canyon. The album is the culmination of a precious friendship with Cate Le Bon, acclaimed solo artist, multi-instrumentalist, label mate, and producer of the album. On Flying Wig, they were determined to create a new sound, electronic yet organic and warm, wanting to bring out and emphasize the emotional aspect of a synthesizer. The studio, surrounded by pines and sequoias (previously owned by Neil Young), gave birth to something polished, in the vein of city-pop and Eno-esque. The circle of contributors to the album remained small and familiar: Nicole Lawrence on pedal steel and guitar, Todd Dahlhoff on bass, Greg Rogove on drums, Euan Hinshelwood on saxophone, and Cate Le Bon herself playing a variety of additional instruments (synths, guitar, percussion, bass, piano). Mixing and engineering were entrusted to Samur Khouja. Emerging from within to examine the unspeakable, Devendra Banhart is suddenly freer than a bird.