Devendra Banhart – Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Released in 2007, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon stands as perhaps Devendra Banhart’s most ambitious work, gathering a kaleidoscopic collection of songs that cross genres, languages, and moods with effortless ease.

Recorded in a makeshift studio in Topanga Canyon, the album breathes emotional and creative freedom, shifting between psychedelia, Latin American folk, soul, and chamber pop. Tracks like “Seahorse” and “Lover” showcase Banhart’s ability to move between intimate moments and theatrical bursts, in a record where mysticism, humour, and sorrow coexist in playful balance.