Best known for their otherworldly sound experimentation and genre-mashing music, the seasoned indie group Animal Collective has somehow managed to reinvent their renowned sound with every new release. After releasing their neo-psychedelic album Painting With last year, the trippy trio returns this week with a new four-track project entitled The Painters EP.
On Monday, the band released the opening track, “Kinda Bonkers,” an atmospheric jam that sounds as if it were written in the middle of an ayahuasca-fueled tribal ceremony. Animal Collective revisits their earlier style on the cut, using hypnotic percussion and harmonies to create an ear-opening musical experience. The track is smoother and more liquid than the rambunctious psychedelia found on Painting With.
The latest single was shared in the form of a colorful lyric video directed by Jack Kubizne, comprised of vibrant animated letters (artwork by Brian DeGraw) that take on a life of their own. The song’s untamed lyrics dance across the screen as they vanish behind bursts of florescent colors. “Don’t you feel me feel your heart shine/unity of all kind, unity of all kind,” the band collectively crows as a mantra.
In addition to three unreleased tracks recorded last year, The Painters EP will also include a cover of “Jimmy Mack” by Martha and the Vandellas. Animal Collective’s EP is due out on February 17 via Domino Records.
With ten studio albums and a handful of EPs under their belt, even longtime fans still never quite know what to expect from this unbridled band of psychedelic indie savants. However, what we’ve come to expect from Animal Collective are unfathomable tunes that shatter the boundaries of experimental music.
The group will play select tour dates across North America throughout May 2017, so be sure to catch their mysterious and unforgettable live performance if you have the chance.
