Panda Bear – Sinister Grift
On his seventh album as Panda Bear, Noah Lennox delivers ten meticulously crafted songs, exploring a new thematic territory that's bittersweet but buoyant
Noah Lennox’s seventh album as Panda Bear is a departure. There are conventional rock song structures. There are hooks and choruses in plain sight, not hiding. If you enjoyed Reset, his collaboration with Sonic Boom from 2022, Sinister Grift has the same warmth, immediacy and accessibility. If you’re looking for another Bros or Good Girl / Carrots, it ain’t here. What there is, ten tracks co-produced with Animal Collective bandmate Josh Dibb, is worth celebrating. These are meticulously crafted songs performed by one of modern music’s most distinguished vocalists.
Sinister Grift is also in new thematic territory for its creator. Where once we had the ode to family par excellence My Girls, the psychedelic dub-pop of Ferry Lady explicitly acknowledges separation ('Thought we’d be friends again, weren’t we saying our vows'). Left In the Cold and Elegy for Noah Lou are reflective and sobering meditations. The playful call and response of the album’s curtain raiser Praise sees Lennox sing 'My heart is best before it breaks' and on closer Defense he acknowledges both his past and present love ('Lookin’ to provide this move is dignified') before a guesting Cindy Lee, in a scene-stealing cameo, lets rip with a sweeping guitar solo, the sound of a bruised soul taking flight. The overall mood is bittersweet, but buoyant.
Listen to: Praise, 50mg, Elegy for Noah Lou