Animal Collective is gearing up to release Time Skiffs (Feb. 4, Domino), the follow-up to 2016’s Painting With. After releasing the colorful singles “Prester John” and “Strung With Everything,” the band has shared the final preview for the album “We Go Back,” featuring a brilliantly absurd video.
“We Go Back” is a cacophony of percussion, keys and strings, coming together to create the maximalist sound Animal Collective is known for. It’s whimsical, and Avey Tare and Panda Bear combine their voices into a sparkling harmony as they sing “Over and over our song on my brain/I go back/We go back and I play it again,” running over each other like a chaotic dream sequence. The accompanying video further bends the perception of reality and fantasy with realistic collages juxtaposed against uncanny animation.
Of the video, director and animator Winston Hacking said:
It was a thrill to work with Animal Collective – they trusted our sense of play and commitment to spontaneity which is mirrored in their sound. The video is composed of scanned locations, miniature sets and collage cut outs that embrace the low-fi 3d aesthetic inherent in photogrammetry.
Below, watch the video for “We Go Back” and revisit Time Skiffs’ other singles below. You can preorder the album ahead of its Feb. 4 release here.