Panda Bear

Panda Bear

Person Pitch

[4/5] What a difference a few years can make. In 2004, Animal Collective member Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) released his solo debut Young Prayer, a meandering, lo-fi recording featuring his unadorned acoustic guitar and fragile, aching vocals. A eulogy for Lennox’s recently deceased father, the disc was a deeply personal artistic statement that maybe shouldn’t have left the bedroom confines in which it seemingly was made.


But on this follow-up, Panda Bear appears to be in a much better mind state; in the interim, he got married, became a father and moved to Lisbon, Portugal-and his art consequently has benefited. Recorded in Lisbon, Person Pitch seems to be bathed in a holy aura and illuminated by a warm light that was last used by the Beach Boys during their late-’60s/early-’70s era of studio exploration.


Panda Bear glazes his earnestly angelic voice in reverb throughout the disc which enhances the mistily mystical, Brian Wilson-esque contours. The rhythms-often accentuated with handclaps and tambourines-are simple yet effective, lending a campfire spirituality to everything. But it’s the glorious melodies and cavernous, quasi-dub-like production that conspire to make Person Pitch one of the most beguiling, intoxicating releases of 2007. (PAW TRACKS) Dave Segal


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