Devendra Banhart & Noah Georgeson - Refuge

Devendra Banhart & Noah Georgeson - Refuge

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. Refuge is an album of profound meditative beauty which offers the
listener a much-needed sense of peace and renewal. But while it was recorded in
2020 its roots go back much further — all the way to the start of their friendship
and, beyond that, to the shared sounds and ethics of their childhoods.

Devendra grew up in Venezuela while Noah, six years older, is a native of Nevada
City, California. But as they got to know each other, they realised that they had
a similar history in the New Age subculture of the 1980s: a world of meditation,
Eastern music, the Bhagavad Gita and The Whole Earth Catalog. Childhood
memories were coloured by the aromas of health food stores and the sound of
New Age labels like Windham Hill Records. Noah, whose production and mixing
credits include Joanna Newsom and the Strokes, came on board as co-producer
of Devendra’s 2005 album Cripple Crow and they have been working together
ever since.

It was while making Devendra’s 2019 album Ma that the pair finally decided
to make their ambient record. Despite complicating logistics, 2020 created
an emotional craving for music with this contemplative, therapeutic quality.
Inspired by both memories of the past and the needs of the present, Refuge is an
act of companionship and generosity which gives the listener room to breathe.
“We’re hoping to create a sense of comfort and coming back to the moment,”
Devendra says. “It’s really important to have a little bit of space between us and
our anxieties and impulses. What you do with that space is up to you.”