Panda Bear is out of hibernation. The Animal Collective member born Noah Lennox is working on his fifth solo album, a full-length that’s tentatively titled Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper. He’s also been playing shows recently (he’s slated to appear at the Red Bull Music Academy’s New York festival in May) and performing some new material. One such song has now appeared online.
As Gorilla vs. Bear notes, Panda Bear collaborator Sonic Boom — who helped produce 2011’s Tomboy and is now working on its follow-up — shared what is likely a live version of a new P-Bear track. The song is featured on a mixtape that was made for Assis! Debout! Couche!, an upcoming French festival that both Sonic Boom and Panda Bear are booked to play.
While it’s not yet clear if the tune will appear on Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, the song wouldn’t be out of place anywhere on a Panda Bear record: aquatic textures, wordless vocal yawns, and tribal loops abound, as do lyrics referencing marijuana. (Has someone been getting stoned and sampling The Lion King? Wimba Way-out, brahh.)
As it turns out, one YouTube user extracted the song from the mixtape and shared it along with some kaleidoscopic visuals. Also, s/he gave it the name “Marijuana Makes My Day,” which probably isn’t exactly right, but works well enough for the time being. Dive into that whole thing above, and stay tuned to SPIN for upcoming details on Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper.
