It has been a few years since we heard from a lone Panda Bear, the ever-evolving vehicle for Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox. While the past few years for the artist have been defined by collaborations ranging from full albums with Sonic Boom to guest appearances on songs by Dean Blunt, 2019 marks the last time Lennox stepped into the solo realm for a full LP. This creates an engaging atmosphere around the artist’s new album, Sinister Grift, set to be released this Friday (February 28). Will these ten songs be a return to the left-field electro-pop that has come to define Panda Bear, or will years of stepping into others’ world reshape Lennox’s approach to his solo material? The answer lies within these ten songs, and Lennox immediately makes his sonic direction clear.
Sinister Grift immediately hits you like stepping out into the first thick humidity of the year. Lennox employs live instrumentation to shape the breezy yet downtrodden yacht-rock-esque melodies that drive these songs, creating a stark difference between the artist’s previous solo material. Despite this being a new side of Lennox’s artistry, these songs are undeniably Panda Bear. Even with this new direction, the artist is still crafting nimble, quaint ballads accented by his soaring vocals, marrying his past releases with lessons learned through years of daring collaborations. Sinister Grift feels like an old surf rock record your dad made but never mentioned, only to be discovered by an old vinyl found while cleaning out the garage. A blanket of haze enrobes these relaxed melodies and loose guitar riffs, giving Sinister Grift a unique infectiousness. Lennox sounds as confident as ever, and these ten songs prove this is not an unfounded sense of artistic integrity.
On the bouncy highlight, “Just As Well,” Lennox’s soaring vocals belt out the lyric “Gonna try on the outside.” This, whether purposeful or not, begins to sum up the sonic personality of Sinister Grift. While the album sees Lennox venturing into uncharted waters, there is still something familiar about these songs. The signature minimalism we’ve learned from Panda Bear albums is alive and well, as the artist pens simplistic ballads that harken back to his past while stubbornly pushing the boundaries of Lennox’s artistic limits. The artist strikes the difficult balance between what fans expect and his restless creativity, aiding in the psychedelic consistency of the album.
Lennox is no stranger to making a solid body of conceptual music, but Sinister Grift is some of the artist’s most daring yet rewarding ventures into his own world. Rather than achieve a dynamic tracklist by switching from one musical realm to the next, Lennox’s mood gives these ten songs their nuanced juxtaposition. The album starts bright and inviting, with highlights like the colorful opener “Praise” and the jovial single “Ferry Lady.” Lennox slowly dips into eerie psychedelia throughout the album, each song sounding a bit darker than the last. Moments like “Venom’s In” and “Left In The Cold” feature a rare vulnerability yet welcomed by Lennox, signaling a shift on Sinister Grift. This shift is what makes the album such a journey of a listen. It is almost like watching a hero’s journey, with “Elegy For Noah Lou” as the lowest point in the character’s odyssey and the Cindy Lee-assisted outro “Defense” being their rise back to the top.
Lennox’s Sinister Grift proves that the artist is far from done evolving. Its loss of its refreshingly underproduced consistency is a testament to Lennox’s maturity and songwriting.
