This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Now that the weather has started to feel like fall, it’s time to curl up with some new music from indie musicians.
Devandra Banhart – “Saturday Night”
Devandra Banhart rose to prominence with his unique style of freak-folk and gained widespread attention with his collaborations with indie pioneers like The Strokes, Joanna Newsom and MGMT. The luminous video for “Saturday Night,” the second single from his most recent album “Ape in Pink Marble,” pairs with the trippy yet calming vibe of the track. The tone could easily be compared to a lullaby, and the video is fittingly filled with babies and puppies. As we approach the beginning of autumn, this is the kind of song that’s easy to picture listening to around a bonfire as the last few days of warmer weather slip away.
Best lyrics: Can’t keep your eyes from closing/
You’re a blue sky decomposing as we all embrace what we’ve become/
And love always is merging into one
“Ape in Pink Marble” was released Sept. 23.
Andrew Bird and Fiona Apple – “Left Handed Kisses”
With successful careers spanning four decades between the two of them, Fiona Apple and Andrew Bird are both household names for indie-rock fans. Earlier this year, Bird took advantage of a relatively new music phenomenon, Facebook Live, to release new material. Many artists opt for a bar or small venue for an intimate set – like Green Day’s upcoming surprise show at the 9:30 Club next Friday – but Bird chooses to keep it even simpler, broadcasting straight from his living room. The 37-minute broadcast was a spectacle, and the song is a soulful and heartbreaking ballad in which both Bird and Apple are at their rawest and most vulnerable. The lyrics read like a classical love poem and tug at the heartstrings of even those as tough and concrete as the image Apple has created throughout her years as an artist.
Best lyrics: Drifting gently through the gyre/
Of the great Sargasso Sea, Atlantic Ocean
Andrew Bird’s “Are You Serious” was released in April. He will perform Oct. 9 at Rams Head Live! in Baltimore.