Whatever your views on Devendra Banhart’s weird and rather wonderful music, imagination and enunciation, one cannot deny that the lad ain’t half prolific. This, after all, is his 4th full solo album in 3 years, and that’s not to mention mini-albums, his Vetiver project and his collaborations with his ever snowballing “freak-folk” community. ‘Cripple Crow’ is, essentially, a mixture of all of these guises with his many friends (there’s about 20 on the cover) chipping in to make it his most expansive and challenging work to date.

The typical Banhart themes are still here with the joy of life, the animal references, the capturing of childhood adulation and the odd lapse into Spanish, for instance, all constantly recurring. What is different is that Devendra’s lyrics appear more considered and mature, meaning he is now turning into a lyricist of some repute. Musically, however, the change is more striking as his army of collaborators work their varied magic over each of these 22 songs. Whilst opener ‘Now That I Know’ could have easily slipped onto his earlier work, the rest of the first half marks a significant progression. ‘Heard Somebody Say’ is swoonsome Joe Boyd-esque folk beauty; ‘Lazy Butterfly’ is sitar-flourished hypnotic stoned bliss; ‘I Feel Just Like a Child’ is a Dylan-esque full band romp; and ‘Some People Ride the Wave’ is an irritatingly twee slice of piano-led blues.

The second half calms down into more familiar Banhart folk territory, aside from a few wistful strummy numbers and the genuinely bizarre ‘Chinese Children’, which even the most hardened fan will struggle to listen to all in one sitting. However, the arrangements remain both challenging and subtle and aid along Devendra’s ever-improving guitar work and wonderful quivering voice with great warmth. What remains stunning is how utterly devoid of modern context this record sounds. The lad could have simply repackaged a long-lost classic buried in a field in 1971 and no-one would ever notice…

This album is too long. It is too sprawling and unfocussed to be recognised as a classic work in the folk music canon. What it does prove though is that Devendra Banhart remains a talent to be cherished, and proves that he is capable of dabbling in complex full-band arrangements without losing any of his already established intrigue, intimacy or charm.

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