Animal Collective is known for their wild and unconventional use of sound with their instrumentation feeling almost like the sonic equivalent of blobby amorphous mitochondria bumping into each other, creating something whimsical, special and fascinating. Since the conception of his involvement in Animal Collective, lead singer-songwriter Noah Lennox has been pushing his solo sound forward, trying to go in a different direction to his band since his debut album under the moniker Panda Bear. His most recent project, Sinister Grift, is no different. It combines elements of noise pop with chamber folk and psychedelia, paired with swing rhythms creating an effervescent sound palette, while maintaining heavily introspective and catchy lyrics. 

The album’s start and end feel like logical thematic connections, starting with ‘Praise’ and ending with ‘Defense.’ Following the themes of faltering relationships and fading memories, the album starts almost happily with praise, about types of love and relationships and bonds. The tone of the guitar and powerful chords mesh well with the lyrics. It is a good opener with extremely catchy vocals to inspire you to listen to the rest of the album. 

The project continues with its unique production in ‘Anywhere but Here’ which has a unique guitar tone, combining echoed vocals and subdued percussions with a spoken voice in Portuguese, which create an entrancing atmosphere and vocals that fit right in with a cool resolution at the end of the song. The track ‘50mg’ has an interesting and playful use of different instruments, the tambourine and the droning synth in the back make this song work especially unique, and it almost feels like an old-school animal collective track that’s mixed with the instrumentation of a Sgt Pepper song from the Beatles. The slight extra flourishes of notes on the synth add dynamic interest and keep you focused on the track, paired with the extremely interesting and introspective lyrics about longing and regret. This along with the next track ‘Ends Meet’ stands out with its rhythm which has more of a swing feeling compared to the other tracks. 

This album overall has a fuzzy production that works with its tone, a daydreaming longing feel paired with psychedelic instrumentation. As mentioned before, this album towards the end especially emphasizes a change in mood and introspection, which is clear in the last few tracks. The large chamber drums in ‘Venoms’ are unique, the brass feels uplifting, almost choral, reminiscent of chamber folk and big loud independent folk such as fleet foxes. Extremely emotional, that you can especially feel, it feels more thematically related to praise in this album, but is so far the most instrumentally different. Toward the end a one-guitar power chord, and constant organ ring through. ‘Left in the Cold’ uses ambient cold noise which creates a serious sonic storytelling environment, including layered reverbed harmonization that leaves you questioning the song and the time. ‘Elegy for Noah Lou’ is a pure instrumental with haunting, longing lyrics, and cycling instrumentals. ‘Defense’ is a great resolution with some great catchy and motivating lyrics along with that fuzz guitar, but I can’t help but feel it could go further instrumentally, however, it ties in well with ‘Praise’.

Overall Panda Bear has created a listenable, introspective, and catchy album with beautiful lyrics and unparalleled songwriting that pushes forward his sound with great production and a unique sonic palette. 

Favorite Tracks: 50mg, Anywhere but Here, Praise, Elegy for Noah Lou, Ferry Lady