Panda Bear Shares Vivid New Single ‘Token’

Animal Collective member Panda Bear has shared another single and video from his forthcoming solo album. Token features experimental artist Dean Blunt—who also directed the video—and follows on from his return single, Dolphin.

Opening with a frightening message about Blunt, the video follows him through a terrifying carnival experience. “Then he lost his f***ing mind,” reads the introduction. “So we decided to scrap all the stuff he had planned and try to make him have some fun and smile.”

RELATED: Stream Methyl Ethel’s amazing new single HERE.

In usual Panda Bear fashion, he balances the line of maximalist epiphany pop with a cacophony of ethereal psychedelic sounds. Token is deceptively complex, though has an easy entry point for newcomers to his music thanks to its effervescent production and pop-influenced hooks. The album is shaping up to be a harmonious and delicate affair, as previous single Dolphin played with very light and natural sounds against Panda Bear’s distinctive vocal arrangements.

Panda Bear’s new album is titled ‘Buoys’ and is released Friday 8 February via Domino. Recently, Panda Bear performed his debut shows in Australia at the end of last year including a performance at Meredith Music Festival. He’s announced a series of dates across North America and Europe behind the new album.

In other Animal Collective news, the band recently celebrated 10-years of their famed, outbreak record, ‘Merriweather Post Pavillion’. They released an early version of lead single, My Girls—listen HERE—and promised more “related sounds and sights over the next couple of months.”

Stream Token below.