Written by Larry Weaver and Adam Clair
01. Graze
After paying such close attention to the pre- Merriweather Post Pavilion material that Animal Collective was working out live, “Graze” was the most glaring omission when the album finally came to be.
The song starts off like a tripped-out Disney score, with a tentative orchestral backing setting the mood. As Avey Tare sings, “Let me begin // Feels good ’cause it’s early,” listeners clued into what a sunrise would sound like if accompanied by music.
The song’s most striking feature is its tonal shift around the three minute mark, when the vocal gymnastics are overshadowed by a pan flute sample and the whole song takes on a mood that would fit right in on an album with “Brothersport” and “Lion in a Coma.”
02. What Would I Want? Sky
Animal Collective’s use of the much publicized first ever licensed Grateful Dead sample is not only tasteful but so dynamic that Jerry Garcia is probably jamming to it up in hippie heaven right now. Keen listeners won’t notice a distinct difference between the studio version and the well-recorded (and well-circulated) BBC Freakzone version. Fans worried that the song’s dynamic would change when given the album treatment need not worry–the band only aggrandized the song by adding their patented vocal flourishes and unintelligible interjections to the song’s extended introduction.
03. Bleed
“Bleed” is Fall Be Kind‘s change-up, the slower jam on a record full of much more dynamic tracks. Here, Animal Collective revels in the simplicity and playful repetition it has always embraced. The song feels like a true collboration between Avey and Panda, as they trade off vocal duties with each line of the song. Still, the song feels slightly underdeveloped when surrounded by “Sky” and “On a Highway.”
The song does contain one of the albums highlights, as Avey manages to explore previously uncharted territory when his vocal range reaches a new high, which works nicely as the song’s final note.
04. On A Highway
Building only slightly on the momentum of “Bleed,” this track offers more vocally and lyrically and as a result seems much more fully realized. “On A Highway” is in the same vein as the slowest burning but no less engaging tracks from Merriweather.
Again, it’s Avey Tare’s thoughtful, meditative lyrics that drive the song. As he sings, “I let some hash relax me // get lost in human pleasure” it’s hard not to envision a contemplative band member exploring the duller moments of life on the road. This is confirmed when, in the next line he sings, “On a highway // I’m sick from too much reading // Jealous of Noah’s dreaming, can’t help my brain from thinking.”
05. I Think I Can
EP closer “I Think I Can” is Noah Lennox at his finest, closing out another great chapter of the Animal Collective catalogue and portending another Panda Bear masterpiece in the near future.
The band’s overall growth as vocalists is demonstrated throughout the record, but never so strongly as on this track. While the comparison may seem tiresome at this point, Panda has never done a better Beach Boys take than when the song shifts in its final act to a repetition of the phrase “I think I can, I think I can, I think I–.” The result is stunning, and serves as a perfect outro to an album that exhibits hopefulness and good vibes throughout.
Fall Be Kind is due out on November 23rd 2009 (digitally) and December 15th (physically) via Domino.
