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Jul 21, 2017 Avey Tare By Ryan Meaney

Avey Tare‘s music has always grasped with the ideas of space and nature. From his earliest works with Animal Collective to his 2014 LP as Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, David Portner has used nature as his muse to bring to light his writings about love and loss. On his latest LP Eucalyptus, Portner once again brings his kaleidoscopic musical mind to the forefront, but this time we find our singer/songwriter in a much softer and more subdued state of mind.

As a member of Animal Collective, we are used to Avey Tare’s frenzied reflections on the human experience over tribal drums and sputtering samples. Portner’s yips, howls, and guttural screams grew to be one of the defining sounds of the group, the ying to Panda Bear’s yang in a sense. On Eucalyptus, Portner brings the acoustic guitar to the forefront on a much more straightforward record than we are used to seeing from the freak-folk icon. Opening track “Season High” brings together acoustic guitar with a melting synthesizer that evokes images of a dew-drenched morning that precedes a hazy summer day. Nothing is ever cut and dry with Avey Tare, either musically or lyrically, but his latest record might be his most clear to date. This is more “folk” than “freak,” and Portner plays the role with great gusto.

Not that this record is a great departure from his past discography, but if you are looking for the “Reverend Green” screaming Avey Tare to make an appearance, you will be disappointed. Still, this is David Portner at his most raw and exposed, a songwriter who has never been afraid to bridge the gap between the experimental and the familiar. Eucalyptus is the work of an artist in control of his creative forces, able to bring to light the most sensitive and natural feelings and emotions a person can experience. (www.aveytare.com)

Author rating: 6.5/10