Animal Collective

Release Date: 12 May 2023

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Chiming laments for a childhood's end, Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished opens with the phrase "want to hear a secret, I know one," suggesting these secrets just might be buried deep within the flocks of high frequencies, electronic glitches, bleeps and swells that follow. The duo's approach is similar to Love's (circa Forever Changes), with Avey Tare's picked acoustic guitar flowing in perfect syncopation with Panda Bear's tumbling drum kit. But the layers of tonal and atonal electronics that fatten the thinner pulse of the songwriter's vision make this album resemble something closer to modern electronic composition. The songs range from speedy patchwork pieces to slower piano melodies, a somehow coherent yet very fragile brand of psychedelic music - their grasp of pop hooks and dynamics being counterbalanced by a love of noise / friction and musical anarchy; their songs wavering on the tightrope between deeply affecting beauty and unrestrained chaos. Whilst the band have gone on to rightfully become one of the most name-dropped and influential groups of the past two decades, this debut effort reminds us of where they came from and remains a truly stunning and unique album.