Devendra Banhart’s Mala.

© Ana Kras

Devendra Banhart releases his Nonesuch debut, Mala, on March 12, 2013. The singer/songwriter co-produced the record with his longtime bandmate, guitarist Noah Georgeson. Spring tour dates will be announced soon. Mala may be pre-ordered now on CD and vinyl at nonesuch.com and includes: a limited-edition, autographed print; an instant download of the album track “Für Hildegard von Bingen”; and a download of the complete album available starting release day. The Mala LP is pressed on 140-gram vinyl and includes the album on CD, an additional 7” with two bonus tracks, and an exclusive poster.

Mala, Banhart’s eighth studio album, was recorded in his then-home in Los Angeles. (He now resides in New York City.) He and Georgeson played most of the instruments themselves, using borrowed equipment and a recorder they had found in a pawn shop. The recorder is a couple of decades’ old piece of gear “that a lot of early hip-hop had been made on,” says Banhart. “And knowing my songs are not hip-hop whatsoever, we thought it would be interesting to see how these kinds of songs would sound on equipment that was used to record our favorite rap. Let’s see how this technology would work for us.”

http://www.devendrabanhart.com/