Panda Bear’s ‘Sinister Grift’ is a self-assured, midlife joyride

Noah Lennox of Animal Collective has made a few 21st century classics performing solo under his Panda Bear moniker. Records like Person Pitch and Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper were dizzying affairs filled to the brim with ideas.

On his new album, Lennox glides through different sonic textures with ease.

“If the thing feels good, I just sort of let it ride in a way that maybe I didn’t so much in the past,” he says.

In this session, Panda Bear talks about making Sinister Grift; working with longtime friend and Animal Collective bandmate Deakin; and why you might have to open your wallet if you want to hire your daughter to perform on your album.

Plus, we’ll hear live performances from Panda Bear recorded in Spain.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.

 

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