Animal Collective announce new album of “love letters, distress signals, en plein air observations, and relaxation hymns”

First single from first album in five years is two new songs melded into one

Animal Collective have announced a new album, ‘Time Skiffs’ – their first album in five years.

Time Skiffs is due for release on February 4 2022 via Domino Records. 

The announcement comes with a Jason Lester-directed video for the album’s first single, ‘Prester John’, as well as a further 2022 US tour announcement, which begins in Richmond, Virginia on March 8.

‘Time Skiffs’ follows the band’s 2016 album Painting With. It was recorded throughout 2020 and mixed by Italian record producer and engineer Marta Salogni.

‘Prester John’ is the product of two separate songs recorded by core Animal Collective members – one song by Avey Tare, and the other by Panda Bear – melded together.

A statement on Domino’s website says: “Time Skiffs’ nine songs are love letters, distress signals, en plein air observations, and relaxation hymns, the collected transmissions of four people who have grown into relationships and parenthood and adult worry. But they are rendered with Animal Collective’s singular sense of exploratory wonder. Harmonies so rich you want to skydive through their shared air, textures so fascinating you want to decode their sorcery, rhythms so intricate you want to untangle their sources. Here is Animal Collective’s past two decades, still in search of what’s next.

The tracklist for Time Skiffs has also been announced, and is as follows:

01 Dragon Slayer  

02 Car Keys  

03 Prester John  

04 Strung with Everything  

05 Walker  

06 Cherokee  

07 Passer-by  

08 We Go Back  

09 Royal and Desire  

Click on the links to pre order the double vinyl, translucent ruby vinyl and CD versions of the album.