Born in Texas and named after an Indian mystic, Banhart has a complicated past and has drifted throughout the world as a self styled wandering minstrel.  In reality he’s an art school drop-out who found his muse when he picked up a guitar, or as he puts it on his website "It was like being constipated and then taking a suppository."  Er, quite. 

Rejoicing in the Hands is the follow up to last year’s The Black Babies EP and 2002’s stupidly titled Oh Me Oh My (The Way The Day Goes By The Sun Is Setting The Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs Of The Christmas Spirit).  In case you hadn’t noticed, Banhart revels in both his mysterious persona and reputation for eccentricity.  This record is no different.  The sleeve could scare young children into never sleeping again, there’s an instrumental called ‘Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry’ and he sings one song in Spanish.  You think I’m joking? 

Musically, this is the lowest of the lo fi.  The 16 tracks here are simply Banhart and an acoustic guitar, with the occasional string or bit of piano thrown in.  The first track ‘This Is The Way’ sets the tone for the record, stark and creepy but at the same time rather beautiful.  When he sings it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard before, a warbling retro throwback which sounds both scary and reassuring at the same time.  At first annoying, it quickly becomes endearing.  Given his eccentricity and his (deliberate, you feel) attempts to be difficult, the album shouldn’t work, but it does. 

The songs are generally slow and the melodies intricate but they quickly become hypnotic, fragile and emotional.  The range of moods covered is astonishing too, with ‘The Body Breaks’, upbeat and sunny, giving way to darker moments such as ‘See Saw’.  Lyrically, I’ve never come across an artist who can paint a mental picture so well, often far too well.  His lyrics are as surreal as his reputation would suggest, saggy flesh sweeping the floor on ‘Poughkeepsie’ and girls hair becoming a mass of insect bites on ‘Insect Eyes’. 

Since Oh Me Oh My was released Banhart has been riding a wave of critical acclaim.  Listening to this it’s not hard to see why.  He’s a complete one-off, as are these songs, and you’re unlikely to hear anything like this again this year.  His songs are clever, visceral and emotional, above all original.  Rejoicing In The Hands lives up to the acclaim and shows that even in these manufactured times, you don’t need to conform to be successful.
(4/5)

Release date: 24 May 2004