Panda Bear and Sonic Boom, who already collaborated on the highly recommended ‘Reset’ (2022), join forces again on a new album titled ‘A ? of WHEN’, which will not be uploaded to streaming platforms: it will only be available in physical format and digital download. In fact, the title track can now be heard, but only if you purchase the album in advance. Thus, Panda Bear communicates its intention to recover a more direct and tangible relationship with music, “minimizing everything online.”
In a statement, Panda Bear speaks out against “the garbage of AI” and the dynamics of algorithms and is committed to “real connection”: “from now on we look to the radio, concerts, collective listening, question and answer sessions and interactions in real life to return to a place that we feel makes more sense,” he says. “That’s why we ask you to join us offline, outside of social media. Find us in the real world. IRL, not URL…”
The album once again plays with an experimental sound approach, being an album built from loops and textures that are unusual in their music, such as harp (played by Mary Lattimore), steel drums, pedal steel and even fragments of a mariachi band; all these sounds deliberately “break” with the sound of the previous album.
Regarding the theme, the songs address “digital exhaustion, contemporary depression, political crisis and ecological sustainability”, so it will especially go into the subject. On July 10, anyone who buys it will be able to listen to it.
