Watercolour Curses?

If there’s a common thread that links Animal Collective’s songwriting it’s their instinctive use of repetition – from the mantra-like becalming kind, to the sort that has a hysterical effect on the listener. It’s present in the scruffy jazz leanings of Alvin Row from debut Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’re Vanished; the trippy, stuck-record wall of sound of The Purple Bottle on 2005’s masterpiece Feels and the closest thing they’ve had to a hit, the ecstatic My Girls from Merriweather Post Pavilion. It’s ironic then, that with each album they have seemingly set out to do anything but repeat themselves in terms of style – leading to equal parts joy and frustration for their fanbase.

So anybody yearning for a return to the wild, warped acoustic textures of Sung Tongs – think an entire band of Skip Spences achieving a higher state of consciousness around a campfire singing twisted, loose ideas of songs; veering between childlike wonder and earthier concerns – or the explosive torrent of demented psych of Strawberry Jam, will be disappointed. Painting Is sees them moving on from the corrosive, abrasive electronics of previous album Centipede Hz to make an album that contains the most dizzying, day-glo music of their career and their boldest, most hi-fi embrace of the dancefloor yet.

In keeping with their loose sense of band duties, Painting Is was recorded without founder member Deakin, busy working on his own record. It’s also notable for a rare use of outside talent with the band handily able to call on some pretty notable guns for hire with Colin Stetson colouring the squelchy, bass-heavy minimal groove of Lying In The Grass with mournful, twisting sax lines and John Cale – droning to his heart’s content on the spooked curveball Hocus Pocus.

Another difference this time is that it’s the first album that the band hasn’t worked out on tour. Typically fans came to expect an AC gig not to reflect the album that they were ostensibly touring – the band always a step ahead, constantly working on new ideas. This time tracks were developed from scratch in the studio and it’s resulted in some of the most immediate songs of their career. Once heard, it’s difficult to displace the gorgeous Bagels In Kiev and effervescent, grin-inducing Golden Gal. As ever, the ESP-like understanding the band enjoy makes everything very distinctively their own, but it’s clear that the band are paying particular heed to the demented, future-pop of the PC Music stable as much as they’re following Panda Bear’s solo explorations into dub territory. The end result is weirdly evocative of a heavier, looser version of the musical landscape Masato Nakarumura created for the soundtrack to Sonic The Hedgehog 2; the band sounding like a motley crew of Deadheads and club kids stuck between the Mystic Cave and Oil Ocean zones, in constant fear of Dr Robotnik’s frankly unreasonable temper and whichever drill or submarine he might pilot next.

While fans were aware that something was cooking thanks to cryptic updates on social media, it wasn’t until the album was unveiled over the sound system at Baltimore- Washington International Airport on 30November that the fruits of their labour were aired. It’s a typically perverse and mischievous way to launch an album and must have caused some consternation at check-in – music for airports this certainly isn’t. There’s a time and place for material this demanding of the listeners’ attention, and it does take repeated listens for the album to really make sense, but when the mood fits, Painting Is hits the spot like only they can.