Animal Collective
Sung Tongs

THE REVIEW

Released on FatCat (Mùm, Black Dice, Sigur Ròs...), the latest gem by Animal Collective, as the name itself suggests, is a collective of various artists who have long been working between glitchy electronic, free folk, and ethnic music.An album that strikes from the very first listen, for its delicacy, incisiveness, sometimes for its madness, sometimes for its genius.

The voices are the protagonists in this album; choirs, reworkings, and deconstructions allow the listener to rediscover the infinite nuances of the human voice, while a guitar supports and follows them, offering sweetness or, on other occasions, speed or lightness.
Finally, a remarkable amount of objects, instruments, and sounds reworked with a proper, and above all non-intrusive, dose of electronics, add a dirtier, more incisive sound to the album, providing the viewer with the thrill of wonder, sometimes playing with them, almost teasing them, other times accommodating them.

The variety of "Sung Tongs" is another of its strengths; the album indeed moves through very different atmospheres, from sweet ballads to experimental minisuites, passing through wild ethnic pieces and more pronounced electronic explorations.
Although, as I just mentioned, in some parts it is a rather "experimental" album, and therefore perhaps not easily digestible for the average listener, I think it can be appreciated by anyone who has appreciated artists like Beck or Nick Drake. In fact, compared to a Fennesz, this album maintains a nearly pop form that makes it very accessible, while still containing a significant timbral/electronic exploration.
It may not be easily found.