Animal Collective, composed of nicknamed musicians Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deacon and Geologist, is one of the few bands that manages to get better with each new release.
They have been constantly expanding their sound to mainstream accessibility without losing their individuality (an admirable feat). Their new EP, Fall Be Kind, picks up where Merriweather Post Pavillion, their last album, left off.
Although the five songs on this EP are not as divinely danceable as most of the tracks on Merriweather are, the tunes are superb in an introspective sense. Glittery harmonies and slow-churning melodies grace this EP in every facet.
“Graze,” the opener, evokes visions of bucolic merriment, steadily gaining childlike momentum before it explodes into a flurry of synthesized flutes that sound an awful lot like something out of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.”
The second track, “What Would I Want? Sky” is a very uplifting song that incorporates the first licensed Grateful Dead sample ever (“Unbroken Chain”).
Needless to say, it is a joy to the ears. You can hear the cut-up voice of Bob Weir crooning in the background, and it’s one of those few AC songs that put a profound emphasis on the lyrics. “Old glasses clinking and a new board is blinking/ and I should be floating but I’m weighted by thinking.” It’s almost strange to hear the voice so clearly.
“Bleed” and “On a Highway” are more ambient than the previous two tracks, but serve as a good segue to the final piece, the busy “I Think I Can.”
“On a Highway” is a dreamy and personal song, a memoir of life on the road. The song has a very lazy, almost tribal beat to it, a playful song to be heard o never-ending asphalt.
The final piece, a seven minute tour-de-force, is all over the place musically. Rampant percussion accompanies a piano, a synthesizer, and they even fugue! It’s very involved, perhaps a little too much so. The piece explores many themes, and ultimately comes full circle, returning to the first eerily synthesized riff that greeted us.
What this EP accomplishes, like most of their releases, is to create a mood out of a sound texture. The songs were written before and during the Merriweather sessions, but were left out for whatever reason. The influence from these sessions is obvious.
It’s startling how well this EP flows, though. Animal Collective is becoming a new age, acid-soaked version of the Beach Boys, creating warm and inviting music with subtle intricacies that make each listen a new experience.
Like Brian Wilson before them, they are making intelligent and challenging pop.
Excellent use of ‘bucolic’. Also: had no idea about the Dead sample.