Devendra Banhart - 'Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon' (XL) Released 24/09/07

Ever generous in the number of tracks to feature, 'Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon' practise sessions accompanied by screenings of Roadhouse 2 and hearing through the strains of Alice Coltrane for Devendra's fifth album, conceived and recorded in the hills of L.A.'s Topanga Canyon CA, where Neil Young used to live. 'Smokey Rolls...' finds the freak-folk of 'Nino Rojo' and the gypsy cavalcade of 'Cripple Crow' tempered on what is equal parts a jubilant affair as well as being coloured by Devendra's break-up with Bianca Casady of CocoRosie. With Devendra's singing in Spanish and English, his warbly delivery embracing a croon and a quaver, nuanced, textured, and with harmonies from his coterie.

'Smokey Rolls...' embraces a lexicon of rhythms - Tropicálismo, rock, blues, reggae, doo-wop with freak-folk at the heart, downed with some freaky brews, the weight and presence coming from the band that lines-up with co-producer Noah Georgeson, Luckey Remington, Greg Rogrove and Pete Newsom, with contributions from Rodrigo Amarante of Los Hermanos, Andy Cabic and Otto Hauser. The present incarnation of the band goes by the name Brain Taint, where previously they've been christened like characters of The Kool Aid Acid Test - Fried Hummingbird, Hairy Fairy Band, Hairy Fairy and First Woman Millionaire, Las Putas Locas, Stoner Boner, and Bathhouse Of The Winds.

Intricate vocal harmonies are the order of the day with friends popping up - 'Christobel' assisted by Gael Garcia Bernal of 'The Science Of Sleep' and 'Motorcycle Diaries' with the zither contributing to a hypnotic acoustic highlight, while the 50's scented 'Shapob Shalom' features the sensual narrative intro of Nick Valensi of The Strokes, the song taking in a sexy waltz with Devendra's class verse - "...honey/ when it comes to love/ there's a fire in the deep end of my heart/ giving me the heebegeebees...", and Vashti Bunyan duets on the closer 'My Dearest Friend' - "I'm gonna die of loneliness..." sings a gleeful Devendra unconvincingly, "...my dearest friend/ you'll soon be dead...".

Devendra adopts a playful croon on the vaudeville of 'So Long Old Bean' - "...it's been so long...", whilst the Tropicálismo of Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben come to mind on the sexy rhythms of 'Carmencita' and the superbly textured 'Samba Vexilographica', like some psych-samba, and randy on the Bolan-esque pop on the 60's flavoured spangle of 'Lover'. 'Seahorse' seemingly mellows proceedings with country-folk - "I'm high/ I'm happy/ and I'm free..." then chugs into the folk-jazz-blues of Van Morrison and rounds out the palate with a petit four of Neil Young blues-rock, whereas 'Topanga Yanomaminista heads straight to a garage-rock parking lot, and 'Saved' takes in a wicked cod-gospel tune - "...but I do need somebody to wake me up/ shake me up...", as black female backing harmonies enrich this sassy number.

'Bad Girl' feels the pain of loss on a Bolan-esque number "...wah wah wa wahhh...why did you leave me?/ well I don't really know..." and 'Rosa' forms a plaintive and funereal ode to a dead romance with de-tuned(?) piano and brush drums that has the instruments practically welling-up, while the singer-songwriter earnestness avoids the glib on the slow-movers 'Freely' and 'I Remember'. 'Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon' cuts one enaging album - less hairy, fairy and freaky than before, scattering spacedust amongst the seeds with a maturing of verse and a gyroscope of rhythms that never falters in entertaining as it flourishes. Smokey rolls his own.