Panda Bear Talks Animal Collective, Live Show & Parenting: ‘It Keeps You Humble’

When Noah Lennox took his critically acclaimed 5th solo medium arsenic Panda Bear, Sinister Grift, connected circuit up of its February release, helium brought on a recently formed unrecorded band. While Lennox made Sinister Grift largely connected his ain — with co-production courtesy of his Animal Collective bandmate Josh Dibb, besides known arsenic Deakin — helium recruited 4 further collaborators to bring his songs to beingness onstage, the archetypal clip helium had ever done truthful for a circuit of his solo material. 

Panda Bear shared the roadworthy with Toro y Moi connected the archetypal limb of the circuit and notably paid a sojourn to NPR’s Tiny Desk successful April. Alongside bassist Tim Koh, keyboardist and vocalist Maria Reis, drummer Tomé Silva and Spirit of the Beehive vocalist Rivka Ravede connected the sampler, Lennox, wielding an electrical guitar, alternately floated and ripped done 3 tracks during the unfiltered NPR performance. The 15-minute acceptable showcased the spot of his eternally youthful voice, and the singular cohesion among the players, who had been unneurotic for little than a year. “I thought astir doing a set thing, benignant of disconnected and connected for a agelong time,” says Lennox. “I wanted radical successful the metropolis oregon adjacent by truthful we could truly conscionable rehearse a lot.” 

Much similar his enactment with 2000s noise-pop darlings Animal Collective, Lennox’s solo euphony does not shy distant from experimentation. But Sinister Grift, released connected Domino Records, streamlined the transportation with stronger melodic payoffs. The lyrics, though astatine times intentionally lacking successful detail, intelligibly showed an creator wading done life’s murkier stretches — which for Lennox, 47, included a divorce. “I’m seeing things successful [the music] that possibly I wasn’t adjacent alert of erstwhile it was coming out, you know?” Lennox says.  

Ahead of the commencement of his 2nd circuit limb of the year, which kicks disconnected Sept. 15, we caught up with Lennox implicit Zoom from his location successful Lisbon, wherever helium has lived since 2004, to sermon his medium themes, his plans with Animal Collective, and however your kids volition ne'er truly deliberation you’re chill (even if you are). 

You moved to New York astir 2000 but moved to Lisbon successful 2004. Do you get backmost to New York much? 

We were determination successful February oregon March oregon so, conscionable for a time oregon two. It’s super, ace different. Here too. I consciousness similar I saw Williamsburg bash the thing, and past I saw Lisbon bash the thing, possibly 10 years later. 

Would you accidental you’re from Baltimore? 

I was calved successful Virginia, and past my household went backmost and distant betwixt Baltimore and Virginia, and past I was successful precocious schoolhouse extracurricular of Philadelphia, and past backmost to Baltimore for a year, and past Boston for a mates years going to school, but I didn’t finish. And benignant of successful the mediate of that, I went to New York for the summer, and my friends Dave [Portner, aka Avey Tare] and Brian [Weitz, aka Geologist] from Baltimore were there, and we played euphony backmost successful Baltimore, and we conscionable benignant of didn’t look backmost aft that. 

I besides grew up astir Baltimore, moved to New York and ne'er went back. 
New York is pugnacious to beat. It’s a pugnacious spot to beryllium without a batch of money, but it’s benignant of like, the much wealth you have, the much you bask the city. That’s possibly a horrible happening to say. 

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