Amid the purveyors of out-there experimental pop, Baltimore's Animal Collective has held an esteemed spot with their mix of tender Beach Boy vocal harmonies and eccentric electronic tendencies ever since 2005's Feels put them on the radar, then critically-acclaimed, fan-beloved Merriweather Post Pavilion transformed the quartet into mega indie darlings. That was in 2009; it was their eighth album.
Between 2012's Centipede Hz and now, the fellas — David Portner (Avey Tare) Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) and Brian Weitz (Geologist) — have all been working on respective projects and relatively inactive on the AC front, though the first rumors of new material came in July, when EastWest Studios confirmed that AC had finished recording an album. Then, on November 25, said album, Painting With, was debuted over the speakers of Baltimore-Washington International Airport, and played on a loop throughout the day. Colorfully bouncing first single "FloriDada" — which I've included below — followed on November 30.
Animal Collective has now confirmed the release date and details about Painting With along with the extensive worldwide tour supporting it.
Painting With drops February 19 via Domino, available in standard CD, LP, and a deluxe LP + 7” + zoetropic turntable slipmat formats, and with three different covers featuring each Animal Collective member – Avey Tare, Geologist, and Panda Bear – as painted by Brian DeGraw. The tour launches the same date from Philadelphia, marking the first Animal Collective concerts since 2013. Unfortunately, no Florida dates are included in this round — the closest stop is Atlanta in May — but they've been here before, so I bet they'll come here again.
Animal Collective also put together a Spotify playlist spotlighting songs from their 15-year career. Listen to it HERE, and check out "FloriDada" below.
Fri Feb 19 || Philadelphia, PA || Union Transfer || TIX *
Sat Feb 20 || Portsmouth, NH || 3S Artspace || TIX *
Mon Feb 22 || Boston, MA || Royale Boston || TIX *
Tues Feb 23 || New York, NY || Irving Plaza || TIX *
Fri Feb 26 || Columbus, OH || Newport Music Hall || TIX *
Sat Feb 27 || Chicago, IL || Concord Music Hall || TIX *
Sun Feb 28 || Minneapolis, MN || First Avenue || TIX *
Tues Mar 1 || Denver, CO || Ogden Theatre || TIX *
Wed Mar 2 || Salt Lake City, UT || The Depot || TIX *
Fri Mar 4 || Seattle, WA || Neptune || TIX *
Sat Mar 5 || Portland, OR || Roseland Theater || TIX *
Mon Mar 7 || Oakland, CA || Fox Theater || TIX *
Tues Mar 8 || Los Angeles, CA || The Fonda Theatre || TIX *
Fri Mar 11-Sun Mar 13 || Phoenix, AZ || McDowell Mountain Music Festival || TIX
Fri Apr 1 || Brussels, Belgium || Botanique – Orangerie || TIX ^
Sat Apr 2 || The Hague, Holland || Rewire Festival @ Paard van Troje || TIX
Mon Apr 4 || Hamburg, Germany || Uebel & Gefahrlich || TIX ^
Tues Apr 5 | Berlin, Germany || Postbahnhof || TIX ^
Thurs Apr 7 || Milan, Italy || C2C Festival @ Magazzini Generali || TIX ^
Fri Apr 8 || Stans, Switzerland || Stanser Musiktage Festival @ Kollegi || TIX
Sat Apr 9 || Paris, France || La Cigale || TIX ^
Mon Apr 11 || London, UK || 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire || TIX ^
Wed Apr 13 || Manchester, UK || Manchester Academy || TIX ^
Thurs Apr 28 || Fayetteville, AR || George’s Majestic Lounge || TIX +
Fri Apr 29-Sun May 1 || Austin, TX || Levitation || TIX
Sun May 1 || Tulsa, OK || Cains Ballroom || TIX +
Tues May 3 || St. Louis, MO || The Pageant || TIX +
Wed May 4 || Royal Oak, MI || Royal Oak Music Theatre || TIX +
Fri May 6 || Nashville, TN || Marathon Music Works || TIX +
Sat May 7 || Atlanta, GA || Buckhead Theatre || TIX +
Sun May 8 || Asheville, NC || Orange Peel || TIX +
Tues May 10 || Washington, DC || 9:30 Club || TIX +
Fri May 13 || Wilmington, DE || World Café Live at the Queen || TIX +
Sat May 14 || Sayreville, NJ || Starland Ballroom || TIX +
* with Ratking
^ with GFOTY
+ with Kaitlyn Smith
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2015.