Devendra Banhart

★★★★ Ma NONESUCH. CD/DL/LP Lo-fi love letter to all forms of motherhood. Venezuela, a country deep in socioeconomic crisis, and the childhood home of Devendra Banhart, provides the heartbeat running through the singer’s tender, intimate tenth album. “This place that has been a mother to you,” Banhart recently remarked, “it’s suffering so much. There is nothing you can do but send out love.” Thus there is a truth and authenticity to the songs here – not because they’re autobiographical (though some clearly are) – but via their warmth and generosity. These are vignettes of lived experience, rather than whimsical fantasy. Key moments include Memorial, playing like a lost Leonard Cohen waltz; Will I See You Tonight, featuring Banhart’s hero and friend Vashti Bunyan; and Kantori Ongaku, an homage of sorts to Japanese pop trailblazer Haruomi Hosono that will appeal to fans of ’70s Labi Siffre. Groovy and moving, in all the right directions. Sophie Harris