Noah Lennox makes music swathed in so much synth noise, ambient voices and ricocheting stereophonic WTFs, it can feel like you're swept into a tidal wave of bong water. But life can feel that way too. The rapturous beauty on the Animal Collective singer's fourth solo disc is built on basic stuff: Lennox's choirboy tenor – multiplied into billowing harmonies – and sweet melodies. If it's a bit less stunning than 2007's Person Pitch, it's also more focused. "Last Night at the Jetty" is nearly a Platters song, all doo-wop lilt and swoon. And "Scheherazade" conjures a space-station piano-bar crooner over a lonely chord, vintage wine in a strange new bottle.
Listen to "Last Night at the Jetty":
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