Animal Collective is not satisfied staying in the boundaries of a single genre. Instead they would rather create their own. On their new release, ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ they have stretched the experimentalism of their previous releases to encompass a sound that is progressive but also more accessible.

On Panda Bear’s solo album ‘Person Pitch’ you could feel nostalgia that he wanted to reach with his music. The album had the feeling of watching dusty home movies. The same emotion is contained in this collection of songs. Each one feeling as though it was constructed while sitting around a campfire.

The album starts of with drifting vocals on ‘In the fire’ which quickly turn into a collection of arpeggiated guitar driven by deep bass lines meshing together to create a head nodding introduction. On ‘My Girls’ the bouncing synth is supported by equally pounding drums as Avey Tare belts ‘I don’t mean/to seem like i care about material things/like a social status’. ‘Taste’ is a marching anthem of kicks and synths reminiscent of old video games before breaking into a chanting chorus of ‘Am i really all things that are outside of me?’. Each song gives way to the next effortlessly, so that by the time ‘Summertime Clothes’ is cued your anticipation for the next song will hold you until the end of the album.

The star that shines the brightest are the vocals. Animal Collective has always had an eclectic view of how vocals fit into their arrangements, but this time they take center stage rather than a supporting role to the experimentation of the music. The lyrics are heart felt, posing questions to the world as viewed through the lens of a person in their 20’s. Panda and Avey’s vocals compliment each other while sounding tightly woven into each track. Avey makes the each song sing-a-long worthy before sending it to anthem status with soaring layered vocal choruses.

Considering the journey Animal Collective has taken over the course of their career this release could be considered their pop album. Though it’s far from an album that will get regular rotation on the radio, every blogger, mp3 websiter and downloader should have this in their Ipod until at least the end of the year.

Merriweather Post Pavillion Review9.0101

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