Sinister Grift - Panda Bear: Review
Review by Lavender:
Panda Bear is the nickname/project of psychedelic folk artist Noah Lennox. Lennox has spent more than two decades as a member of critical darling indie folk outfit Animal Collective, but has also been a magnet for acclaim as a solo artist. The peak of that came on his 2007 album Person Pitch, which I and many others consider to be a masterpiece. His last solo album dropped back in 2019 but he's stayed very busy since then with multiple Animal Collective records dropping and a collaborative album with Sonic Boom in 2022. Now he's returning to solo work with Sinister Grift, a surprisingly vulnerable record that sees Noah dealing with the aftermath of his divorce. And it's absolutely stunning.
Sinister Grift led off with the single "Defense" which was pretty notable for being a collaboration with the biggest critical darling of 2024, Cindy Lee. I did enjoy the track, but I didn't realize just how much I liked its catchy lucid psychedelia until I heard it as the closing track of this album. It was also the first taste of Deakin's production throughout the album, which is consistently excellent in its soft but expansive psychedelic tones and space.
But how much I liked the lead single turned out to be nothing compared to how much I liked the next two singles. "Ferry Lady" features an absolutely irresistible hook that builds throughout the song and manages to mean even more every time it circles back around. It's a huge instrumental highlight with a short loop of infectious psychedelic folk that sticks in my mind just as much as the refrains. I think I somehow like "Ends Meet" even more with its playful slinky instrumentation and hooky refrains from start to finish. Underneath all of its playful beauty is Panda Bear contemplating what to do with his time. The sound of the song is so sweet and joyous, but every time he repeats "what else can I do?" it gets more jaded and desperate.
That turned out to be the perfect harbinger for the record itself. Sinister Grift is an album about Noah's real life divorce, or more accurately his own introspection while trying to move on from it. But in contrast with a divorce record like Jason Isbell's newest effort, which displays its emotional tone front and center, Panda Bear chooses to weave surprisingly vulnerable and solemn emotion into his familiar watery psychedelic folk sound palettes.
For a great example, take the opener "Praise," which is so catchy and delightful sounding from its opening notes. I love the dueling melodies with the backing vocals and it's all builds and swells to an absolutely excellent final 30 seconds. It sets up some of the themes of the record right out of the gate, but you'd never know from how sweet everything sounds. That leads directly into "Anywhere But Here" which I think should go down amongst the greatest Panda Bear sings of all time. It's astoundingly catchy with one of the best hooks I've heard all year that masks just how emotionally defeated it can be. That's contrasted with several verses from Noah's daughter in Portuguese that have a surprisingly grounding grit to them. It's a spectacular song that results in an utterly spellbinding push and pull.
"50mg" is another song that hides its thematic darkness, this time with synths that wiggle playfully over the instrumental. Panda Bear sings about feeling the miles on his body before a bridge where he digs even deeper into himself for a poignantly vulnerable moment. That bridge reminds me of the record's most dramatic song "Venom's In." It's a combination of anguished refrains and rising instrumentation is a little out of character for how reserved much of the record can be in its desperation. But it also feels like the perfect moment to blow up and the final minute is remarkable as a result.
That then leads directly into "Left In The Cold" which is fittingly both the chilliest and most isolating song on the record. The way that the instrumentation is left to reverb out into this vacuum of space is absolutely intoxicating and Noah feels like he's holding onto all of his refrains for as long as physically possible. Even though I wish the lyrics gave something a little more tangible to grab onto, I still think the song is a sonic marvel.
And speaking of nitpicks, there are a few to be had on the record, though nitpicks are really all they are. "Just As Well" is a song that definitely doesn't feel like it fits in with the rest of the record in terms of sonic demeanor. It's the slinkiest song here in a way that sometimes borders on just being corny. Noah's calls of having "nothing left to lose" feel more inspiring than dejected and I'm not sure if that's a result of the hokeyness or vice versa. I'm also not head over heels for "Elegy For Noah Lou," the record's longest track at over 6 minutes. Noah frames himself as a wanderer who is lost and looking for someone who can help save him. I think that thematic posturing is the reason the composition feels so abstract and wandery. I get that the journey is part of the destination, but that doesn't make the very slow and dreary second half of the song any more interesting to me.
Nitpicks aside that album is a spectacular triumph on two fronts. The first is that Panda Bear has never had more to say and never found more interesting ways to say it. As a lyricist, the vulnerability and introspection he displays is fascinatingly raw and resembles the mannerisms of old school folk more than the freakier, more abstract styles he's always dabbled in. Speaking of those styles though, they're absolutely pinpoint throughout this album. The sound of the record is rich and engaging within all of its sonic details and it's harsh and are communicated using some of the catchiest refrains I've ever heard. It all comes together to form a record that humanizes Panda Bear while simultaneously showing off his superhuman ability to spin his own troubles into utterly irresistible music with astonishing efficiency, it's a can't miss record. 8.5/10
