Last spring, Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson started to make a record that was like nothing they had made before – an ambient album that would be both a haven from a suddenly terrified world and a heartfelt musical dialogue between two artists who have been friends and collaborators for over two decades. The resultant Refuge is an album of profound meditative beauty which offers the listener a much-needed sense of peace and renewal. Refuge will be released as part of Secretly Group‘s Friends Of…. series via Dead Ocean on August 13th, 2021.
he first two tracks from the album, “Into Clouds” and “In a Cistern” come with a video directed by Nicky Giraffe and Julianna Giraffe. The video is a collection of meditative imagery and documentation of insects camouflaging in environments both natural and unnatural, as they make their journey to a larger Refuge. Or, as Nicky Giraffe explains, “”A meditative look at the life’s journey of two snails, from conception to old age, as narrated by a choir of natural imagery and other bugs.” Check it out below…
Another two tracks from the album – “Mizuko Kuyo” and “Rain Of Flowers (feat. Lama Rod Owens)” – are available exclusively on Calm. Beginning today at 12pm ET / 9am PST, Calm users can listen to these two pieces in the “Music” section of the platform.
Written and recorded separately during 2020, and then seamlessly woven together, the album features a cast of friends and icons from the realm of meditation and mindfulness. The two artists approach a similar mood from very different compositional angles, ranging from weightless synth drones to luminous lattices of woodwind and strings. As the tracks took shape, the duo asked musicians in their circle to record parts remotely: Mary Lattimore on harp, Nicole Lawrence on pedal steel, Tyler Cash on piano, Todd Dahlhoff on bass, Vetiver’s Jeremy Harris on synthesizer and additional production, and David Ralicke on brass and woodwind.
Refuge Tracklist:
1) Book of Bringhi 8) Three Gates
2) A Cat
3) Rise From Your Wave 10) Sky Burial
4) Peloponnese Lament 11) Asura Cave
5) In a Cistern
6) Into Clouds 13) Lament Return (Physical Version Only)
7) For Em
