After releasing and touring their excellent 2022 LP Time Skiffs, Animal Collective are back with another album. Isn’t It Now? is coming on September 29 via Domino (pre-order). As with Time Skiffs, the album was conceptualized in the summer of 2019 while AnCo were living and working together outside Nashville. They recorded Isn’t It Now? at The Bunker in NYC with producer Russell Elevado (D’Angelo, The Roots, Kamasi Washington) once the worst of the pandemic had passed. With a runtime of 64 minutes, it’s the longest Animal Collective record to date. Check out the artwork (designed by Avey Tare) and tracklist below.
Isn’t It Now? features the previously-released 22-minute epic “Defeat,” as well as live rarity “Kings Walk” (which AnCo included on their Tiny Desk (Home) Concert). Today they’ve shared opening track “Soul Capturer,” a chuggy jam foregrounding washed-out guitars and ’60s-inspired drums alongside Avey Tare’s illustrative vocals. Listen below.
Speaking of Avey Tare, his solo LP 7s came out earlier this year. Bandmate Panda Bear just wrapped up his North American tour with Sonic Boom supporting their 2022 album Reset.
Isn’t It Now?
Soul Capturer
Genie’s Open
Broke Zodiac
Magicians From Baltimore
Defeat
Gem & I
Stride Rite
All The Clubs Are Broken
King’s Walk