Courtesy Animal Collective
While we might be slightly peeved Animal Collective elected to visit Dallas during their return to the Metroplex — visiting Granada Theater over the likes of Tulips or Lola’s — we were still happy to get to interview band member Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) over an email correspondence. The experimental pop band is touring behind their new album, Time Skiffs, the band’s first album in six years. The album, which continues the band’s trademark experimental sound, was given the distinction of being Best New Music by super hip music site Pitchfork. So, expect a heavy dose of their new tunes at tonight’s show.
The full interview is below, unedited and unabridged directly from the keyboard of Panda Bear himself.
Where did the idea for the new album originate from and what was the process of recording during 2020 like?
the first ideas for songs that wound up becoming the core of the album were written by dave josh and brian for a performance at the music box in new orleans in 2018. we later added my parts and tweaked the arrangements but the songs and the tone of the thing started there. we were planning to go to record right around when the pandemic shut everything down so we decided to put it together ourselves remotely. we would each record our parts and share the project file back and forth and slowly we built up the thing. then we asked Marta Salogni to mix and she did a great job.
How does the studio album differentiate from the Bridge to Quiet EPs released? Were there different approaches and expectations to them and, if so, what were those differences?
the bridge to quiet release was different in that it was made from improvisational moments during our rehearsals for time skiffs. we wanted to stay active during lockdown if we could so i think dave had the idea of trying to take pieces from rehearsal recordings and try to build songs around them.
What are you looking forward to now that you’re back on tour with a new album?
just feels good to be back doing our thing really. also, we had done a bunch of music in the past 10 years that relied more on sequences and synching machines and its been refreshing to play these songs which are much more organic and free performance wise.
What's your favorite thing about Texas when y’all come through?
weve always had great shows in texas so i always look forward to playing there. when of my most memorable panda bear shows was playing at fitzgeralds which i gather is sadly closed now. there was a really intense energy and people were going for it.
What are you all working on next? Individually or as a group?
weve got another album almost finished but im not sure when that will be out. my friend Pete Kember and i made a record that should be out soon. and im sure there will be a variety of other things coming out down the road. weve been real busy.
thanks for the interview hope alls good.
noah
Who: Animal Collective
Where: Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX
When: July 15
