The sad news of frontwoman Seraina leaving Burning Witches has been circulating the internet over the last week, highlighting that sometimes there are things beyond your control that you don't see coming. Continuing in their relentless pursuit of bringing heavy metal magic to the masses, the band are delighted to welcome new witch Laura from the Netherlands into the fold. The band are introducing Laura to their fans with a new track, ‘Wings Of Steel’.

Seraina states about her departure: "Dear friends, for personal reasons and after much deliberation I've decided to fully dedicate myself to my band Dead Venus and to leave the band Burning Witches. For the last four years I have had an incredible journey but I feel now that is the time to explore the challenge my own project is offering me. I would like to thank my family, friends and of course the fans for the incredible support. I also thank the band, the label and the management for all their help. There are a lot of beautiful experiences I’ll keep with me forever. My debut album for Dead Venus titled Bird Of Paradise will be released later this year. So my life remains exciting! I wish the Witches all the best and good luck for the future!"

Band leader Romana continues: "This is of course a very sad moment for all of us. We have been very close for the last few years and have achieved a lot together. It's with great sadness we have to accept that Seraina wants to move on and we wish her the best of luck for that! Your time with the Witches will never be forgotten! For us as a band it is important now to look to the new challenges ahead and the new record - the show must go on! Yes we are super thrilled that we have found Laura so quickly via our Dutch connection Sonia. We know it is impossible to replace a great voice in exactly the same way, that is why Laura is the perfect choice for us. She will bring her own strength and personality into the Witches! We will not change the identity of the band, we will continue playing the music we love! Laura is an experienced and crisp vocalist with a wide range and a crazy enough personality to be one of US! Please give her a warm welcome – she has already won many metal hearts at our first show with her at Sweden Rock Festival! We will continue to spread the magic of the witches - thanks for all the support over the years!"

New witch Laura says: "Dear Burning Witches fans of the world, I am really excited and know that I have big shoes to fill! I want to thank you that you've given me this opportunity and also the Burning Witches for their trust and the warm welcome they've given me into their sisterhood! Being able to play the music I love with great people, performing at those amazing shows and festivals, and being supported by a fantastic team is a dream that has come true for me. I can't really wish for more! We are working our asses off at the moment to bring the magic to you all! Keep the fire burning! See you soon on the road and thanks for the support!"

Devendra Banhart announces his new album, Ma, out September 13 on Nonesuch Records.  This is Banhart’s first album since 2016’s Ape in Pink Marble.  Ma, bursting with tender, autobiographical vignettes, displays a shift from the sonic experimentation of his previous albums to an intricate, captivating story-telling and emotional intimacy.  Banhart favours organic sounds to accompany his voice and guitar, the arrangements bolstered by strings, woodwinds, brass, and keyboards.  He also debuts a fantastical, surrealistic video for the first single, ‘Kantori Ongaku’.

‘Kantori Ongaku’ translates from Japanese to “country music” and is a nod to experimental pop legend Haruomi Hosono, a founding member of the influential electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra.  The song's video features a full circle journey of vignettes that play on the dream-like quality of intimate activities. The video, colourfully directed by Giraffe Studios, also features guest cameos and a brief infomercial requesting donations to the I Love Venezuela Foundation. 

The simply titled Ma is Devendra Banhart’s third album for Nonesuch, one that addresses — often in a beguilingly oblique way — the unconditional nature of maternal love, the desire to nurture, the passing down of wisdom, the longing to establish the relationship of mother to child, and the consequences of that bond being broken.  Banhart doesn’t approach the album’s maternal theme in a literal way; rather, by contemplating it, alluding to it, regarding the concept of motherhood from different angles, he has fashioned an album of multiple, intertwining narratives.  Its concerns are both personal and global, with subtly autobiographical looks at life and death and ruminations about the precarious state of the world.  The many light-hearted moments of Ma are balanced by deeply melancholic, even sombre ones.  Three tracks are in Spanish, the language that is as much Banhart’s native tongue as English, and one in Portuguese.

Banhart, who spent his childhood in Venezuela, has been profoundly affected by the poverty and despair he’s witnessed there.  His concern over the dire situation in his motherland drew him back to the Spanish language: “My brother is in Venezuela, my cousins, my aunts and uncles.  They are just holding their breath, in gridlock standstill. There’s this helplessness.  This place that has been a mother to you, that you’re a mother to as well, and it’s suffering so much.  There is nothing you can do but send out love and remain in that sorrowful state.”

Working with Grammy Award–winning producer-musician and longtime musical compadre Noah Georgeson, the two started this particular musical journey when they were invited to record in a special room at a venerable old temple in Kyoto, after a short Asian tour.  That served as a musical and spiritual prelude to what was to come.  Back in California, they recorded at 64 Sound and Sea Horse Studios in Los Angeles and Anderson Canyon in Big Sur.  Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon contributes background vocals on ‘Now All Gone’ and Banhart’s mentor, muse, and dear friend, the folk legend Vashti Bunyan, duets with him on ‘Will I See You Tonight’.  Notes Banhart, “Vashti is the archetype of the mother, one of the most important people in my life.  It was so beautiful to sing this duet with her.”

Ma tracklisting:

1.     Is This Nice?          

2.     Kantori Ongaku       

3.     Ami               

4.     Memorial           

5.     Carolina           

6.     Now All Gone            

7.     Love Song       

8.     Abre Las Manos

9.     Taking a Page

10.  October 12

11.  My Boyfriend’s In The Band

12.  The Lost Coast

13.  Will I See You Tonight? (featuring Vashti Bunyan)