Since the second week of January we all knew nobody could beat the unbelievable record Animal Collective had offered us. The Brooklyn Combo that began with the decade in the shadows of the freak-folk movement, after many inflection points in their career –Sung Tongs; Feels-, amazed both the converted and the unconvinced, even flirting with the charts thanks to that classic – halfway between the Beach and the Junior Boys – called “My Girl”. The exhilarating chants and loops of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” were dazzling from beginning to end. It multiplied the many achievements of a band that embodies most of the best things popular music has offered in the noughties. Deakin, the band’s guitar player, took a break and the remaining trio decided to record their new project without guitars, revisiting the electronic part of their former opus “Strawberry Jam” and mixing it with Panda Bear’s brand of luminous psychedelia from his acclaimed solo album . The fusion produced the only 10 out of 10 we’ve been able to give to a record for a long, long time.

Released on Domino. Available to listen in Spotify.