A limited vinyl edition will follow in August. On the B-side there is the song “The Challenge”, which was completely improvised live.
Psychedelic indie rockers Animal Collective deliver an epic 22-minute single “Defeat”. The creative minds around singer Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear, also invited a few guests for the recording. Alongside Grammy-winning producer Russell Elevado, who has already demonstrated his musical prowess with acts such as Kamasi Washington and The Roots, violinist Samara Lubelski, cellist Leila Bordreuil and saxophone player Ben Chapoteau-Katz also lent a helping hand.
Listen to Animal Collective’s “Defeat” here:
The piece is Animal Collective’s reflection on the world that seems to be spinning ever faster. It’s her way of dealing with what it takes to persevere through the mess and stay grounded. Appropriately, “Defeat” seems like a psychedelic journey through various states of mind and feelings that we experience every day as consumers of the internet and all kinds of other media.
In addition to a digital release, a limited vinyl edition has been announced for August 25th. The B-side features the song “The Challenge (Live Edit)” which consists entirely of live improvisations. Before that, we heard from Animal Collective in early 2022 when they released their album TIME SKIFF. ME editor Steffen Greiner gave the work four out of six stars.