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Jan 08, 2013 Devendra Banhart By Mike Hilleary

Last month folk artist Devendra Banhart announced the release of his new album, Mala, his first since 2009’s What Will We Be. Today Banhart revealed a bit more about the impending studio effort, including its release date (March 12) and cover art (pictured to the side and painted by Banhart himself).

Banhart has also provided the first listen to one of the record’s included tracks, “Für Hildegard von Bingen.” According to history Hildegard von Bingen was a Catholic saint who lived in the 12th century who spent her life as a composer, writer, and theologist. In a press release, Banhart says of the song that “In my head there was this little movie, an alternative universe, I guess - Hildegard is sequestered in her cloister, and one day she gets a VHS cassette and it’s the prime era of the MTV VJ, and she just goes wild. ‘That’s it for me,’ she says. ‘That’s how I’m going to get my message across.’ So she escapes the cloister… and becomes a VJ.”

The term “mala” is also explained in the press release. An Eastern European term of endearment, the title was inspired by was inspired by Banhart’s fiancée, Ana Kras, a Serbian artist.

You can view the full tracklist of the album below, and listen to “Für Hildegard von Bingen” here. (via P4K)

Mala:

Golden Girls
Daniel
Für Hildegard von Bingen
Never Seen Such Good Things
Mi Negrita
Your Fine Petting Duck
The Ballad of Keenan Milton
A Gain
Won’t You Come Over?
Cristobal
Hatchet Wound
Mala
Won’t You Come Home
Taurobolium

(http://www.devendrabanhart.com/)