For his ninth album, Devendra Banhart pairs sparse instrumentation (guitar, some synth and drums) with mournful lyrics. Sharing a similar aesthetic to 2013’s Mala, Apel In Pink Marble contains 13 songs that unmistakably come from a lonely, melancholy-filled place —“Don’t Come back, please come back tonight / Just about the only thing left is a lie. Banhart, however, is able sing and whisper about the darkness in a charming manner. Check out “Fancy Man,” “Saturday Night,” “good Time Charlie,” “Fig In Leather,” and the bossa-nova-influenced “Theme for a Taiwanese Woman in Lime Green.”

• music label: Nonesuch 2016

reviewed by donut savage 10/2016