Devendra Banhart: What Will Be

Warner Brothers

On his latest offering What Will We Be, songwriting savant Devendra Banhart has traded in his sometimes-obtuse freaky folk tendencies for entrancing lo-fi lullabies that vary from enthused power-pop, jazzy ballads, and dizzying psychedelic dirges. A departure from his esoteric musical meanderings, What Will We Be is a pleasing aural pastiche that leaves you sonically satiated, yet desperately craving more. The psych stomp of the Led Zeppelin-esque “Rats” begins with a intoxicating hip-swiveling bassline and ends with a noisy cacophonous riot proving that Banhart is more than a weepy, warbling folkster, while the anthemic “16th & Valencia, Roxy Music” is a trippy ode to San Francisco that may induce free dancing and riotous hand-clapping.