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Feb 06, 2025 By Mark Redfern Photography by Chris Shonting

Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox) is releasing a new album, Sinister Grift, on February 28 via Domino. Now he has released the album’s third and final pre-release single, “Ends Meet.” The song features instrumentation by Lennox’s Animal Collective bandmates Avey Tare and Geologist, as well as backing vocals by Maria Reis and Spirit of the Beehive’s Rivka Ravede. Listen below.

Previously Panda Bear shared the album’s first single, “Defense.” The song features Cindy Lee and was one of our Songs of the Week.The album’s second single, “Ferry Lady,” was shared via a music video.

Sinister Grift is Panda Bear’s first solo album in six years, since 2019’s Buoys, although in 2022 he released Reset, a collaborative album with Sonic Boom.

Lennox worked on the album in his Lisbon, Portugal home studio alongside his Animal Collective bandmate Josh “Deakin” Dibb. As well as Cindy Lee (aka Canadian musician Patrick Flegel), the album also features Spirit of the Beehive’s Rivka Ravede and each of his Animal Collective bandmates (a first for a Panda Bear album).

A press release announcing the album included quotes from Lennox’s collaborators and friends.

Josh “Deakin” Dibb: “Working on this record felt like a sacred and warm return. Noah and I first started putting music down to multitrack cassette in 1991. 32 years later and working in the same fashion, two friends alone in a room searching for sounds and feelings that move us, I am very proud of what we created together. Sinister Grift feels like the songwriter I’ve known for over 30 years but also feels like some sort of new chapter for Noah. Couldn’t be more proud of the result.”

Daniel Lopatin: “A classic rock dream that ebbs beautifully into a little bit of a nightmare.”

Jessica Pratt: “On Sinister Grift, Panda Bear cuts a lone figure, bracing himself against the winds of fortune and calamity. Noah’s pure and poignant lamentations are less elusive this time around, as though our narrator has awoken from a sobering dream. Singing a familiar round on an imperiled path, Panda Bear presents a set of torch songs conveying hard-fought wisdom, buoyant despite the load they bear.”

Maria Reis: “Noah has the ability to be incredibly concise in his songwriting. Feels like every idea, every word and every sound is there to serve a purpose—the purpose being the actual song. Sinister Grift has that all-timer feel to it, as if the songs have been around for decades and at the same time full of fresh new light as though they’re pointing forward.”

DJ Falcon: “In these dark times we all need music to get through life. Panda Bear has the magic, his voice feels like the medicine to heal this world. Noah has given us Sinister Grift, I feel relaxed and the beach doesn’t feel far away. Merci Noah for the gift.”

Alan Braxe: “Sinister Grift is a beautiful album. Everything sounds authentic and natural, as if it has always existed and will continue to do so. True and timeless. Thank you Noah.”

Read our 2019 interview with Panda Bear.

Panda Bear Tour Dates:

* w/ Toro y Moi

2/06: First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN *
2/07: The Salt Shed - Chicago, IL *
2/08: Royal Oak Music Hall - Detroit, MI *
2/10: The Danforth Music Hall - Toronto, ON *
2/11: MTELUS - Montreal, QC *
2/12: Roadrunner - Boston, MA *
2/14: Terminal 5 - New York City, NY *
2/15: Franklin Music Hall - Philadelphia, PA *
2/16: 9:30 Club - Washington, DC * - SOLD OUT
2/17: 9:30 Club - Washington, DC *
2/19: The Ritz - Raleigh, NC *
2/20: Marathon Music Works – Nashville, TN *
2/21: Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA *
3/20: Capitólio - Lisboa, PT
3/21: Theatro Circo – Braga, PT
3/22: Almacenes – Oviedo, ES
3/23: Kafe Antzokia – Bilbao, ES
3/25: Paral·lel 62 – Barcelona, ES
3/26: 16 Toneladas – Valencia, ES
3/27: La Sala – Madrid, ES
3/28: Teatro das Figuras – Faro, PT
5/08: The Van Buren - Phoenix, AZ *
5/12: Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater - Austin, TX *
5/13: White Oak Music Hall - Houston, TX *
5/14: House of Blues - Dallas, TX *
5/16: The Fillmore - Denver, CO *
5/17: Kilby Block Party – Salt Lake City, UT
5/19: The Chapel - San Francisco, CA - SOLD OUT
5/20: The Chapel - San Francisco, CA – SOLD OUT
5/21: Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
5/22: The Showbox - Seattle, WA
5/23: Hollywood Theatre - Vancouver, BC
5/31: Button Factory – Dublin, IE
6/01: Slay – Glasgow, UK
6/02: Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK
6/03: Castle and Falcon – Birmingham, UK
6/04: Gorilla – Manchester, UK
6/05: Beacon – Bristol, UK
6/06: Chalk – Brighton, UK
6/07: Victoria Park – London, UK

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