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A name is just a name, even the not-so-vaguely menacing title “Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper.” In fact, the fifth album from Panda Bear – the singer-songwriter also known as Noah Lennox – shows the Animal Collective member’s purported encounter with the afterlife to have been quite productive. As was the case with Lennox’s 2011 release “Tomboy,” the new album transforms experimental techniques into moody yet uplifting pop music that somehow evokes both a dank basement rave and the sunny sounds of the Beach Boys.

Lennox’s music is a mash of influences, many of which he explicitly references on the record; vocal chanting drifts across drum samples lifted from early ’90s British acid house, layered under thick waves of reverb. The resulting sound is catchy, yet offers moments of haunting loveliness. In advance of the album’s Jan. 13 release with Domino Records, T asked him to reveal some of his inspirations.