Painting With by Animal Collective

It's been over 15 years now since the Baltimore based experimental pop outfit Animal Collective released their debut album Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished. Now, after a four year span without a full-length release, they have released their tenth studio album Painting With. Four years is the longest gap the group has even taken between releases, and they've used the extra time to reinvent their style, to some extent at least. David Portner, one of the group's co-founders who started in his own side project Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks while the group were on hiatus, stated that the goal whilst recording the album was to simplify their sound, and do away with the long passages and use of reverb that had developed into a very prominent element of their past material. While the decision to change such defying characteristics of their sound didn't hurt the music on Painting With, it didn't do much to help it either, as Painting With is perhaps the most average album the group have released.

The colorful, upbeat and cartoony tracks FloriDada, The Burglars, and Spilling Guts all still feel like Animal Collective, but are elevated by their simplicity, in comparison to the band's other material that is, as well as their short overall lengths. Painting With is the trio's shortest release, coming in at a modest forty minutes, which is proof enough already that they have done away with the use of extended passages. While the music is as mentioned, a tad simpler than those familiar with the band's previous albums may expect, they still create very lush, layered soundscapes that can be challenging at time to listeners. Unfortunately that doesn't always work well with the direct and to the point nature of the tracks, as throughout the album there are quite a few moments where the band have too much going on. On the opposite end of the spectrum, tracks like Hocus Pocus (which features Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale) and Vertical feel as if they're missing something, as if they're empty when stood up next to the rest of AC's musical catalogue.

The album does contain some fun moments, as well as a handful of well-crafted enjoyable pop cuts. Despite that, the music is constantly bogged down by the similarities found throughout the record, as it constantly feels as if the band decided to confine their songs and are frequently holding back intentionally rather than expanding their sound as they have previously done with every new release.

At it's core, Painting With is the poppiest and most fun that Animal Collective have ever been, but it's also the simplest and most direct record that they've released thus far. It's not the fleshed out, unique, experimental pop record that the band are known for, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth a listen. It's hard to get through the full project without tapping your foot and singing a long to at least one of the peppy, upbeat songs, and while Painting With isn't quite their best, I wouldn't say it's their worst release either.

Favorite Tracks: FloriDada, The Burglars, Spilling Guts, Golden Gal

Least Favorite Tracks: Vertical, Summing the Wretch

Rating: 3/5

Check out the album's lead single FloriDada below:

You can preorder Painting With, Animal Collective's 10th full-length studio album here.