American experimental pop band Animal Collective has released a new single, entitled “Walker“, along with a video, the contents of which have been described by Pitchfork as showing “all four band members … dressed in cloaks … performing the track atop a collage background while people in colorful bodysuits crawl around them.“

The video was directed by band member David Portner and his sister Abby. A press release reported Abby saying this: “It was so much fun to collaborate with Dave on this video, there were so many drawings and phone calls back and forth about how to make the record cover come to life and so much experimenting with movements of the band and acrobats to figure out how to get the flow right. I have never been on a set with so much excitement and clapping after takes when it all fell into place. It was such a warm, hardworking crew of people helping us figure out how to make it all happen and is one of my favorite directing experiences ever.“

Band member Noah Lennox says the single is a tribute to Scott Walker, who died around the time of the track’s writing (March 2019). Walker was a famous singer of the 1960s as part of the Walker Brothers and went on to create increasingly experimental solo records, moving from a distinctly baroque pop approach in the late sixties to avant-garde works from the ’90s until his death in 2019. If you want to see just the extent of this stylistic evolution, you can look at the two tracks below. Lennox said that “Scott’s music has meant a lot to me and he’ll always be a big inspiration. But there’s also a kind of exhaustion and resignation to the singer of ‘Walker’ that belies a darker layer”.


The single is the second release from the band’s upcoming new album, Time Skiffs, which will be out next February 4^th via Domino. The first release came last October with the song “Prester John“. The video to this song was directed by Jason Lester and had a similarly experimental vibe, seeing the band perform amid a light show that continually obscures and changes the band’s surroundings.

A press release describes the new album as being “like listening in on a conversation among four old friends, just as it felt during their inchoate early days or their Strawberry Jam heyday. These 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, same as they ever were. There are 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.”

Time Skiffs will be released in a number of formats, ranging from CD, 2xLP and digital release. You can also pre-order a limited edition deluxe 2xLP on starburst ruby and black vinyl here. The album’s release will be supported by a spring tour of North America, as well as a date in Spain, that begins next March. The band will be supported by experimental composer L’Rain (Taja Cheek). For those interested in getting tickets and seeing details of tour dates, you can look here. The tracklist for the new album can be seen below.

Time Skiffs tracklisting

1. Dragon Slayer
2. Car Keys
3. Prester John
4. Strung with Everything
5. Walker
6. Cherokee
7. Passer-by
8. We Go Back
9. Royal and Desire