Part of the pleasure in Strawberry Jam was the sense that the members of Animal Collective might be on the vege of unknotting their thickly tangled sound. The album's songs could hardly be called minimal, but there was space in the mix for the relatively direct lyrics to connect immediately without painstaking excavation by the listener. But I guess the recording session didn't excise the clutter bug entirely.
"Water Curses," the title track from a soon to be released EP of Jam leftovers, uses that record's churning digital slot machine effects in a piled-on manner than better resembles the songwriting methodology of its predecessor, Feels. Avery Tare nearly fulfills his lyrical desire to "be like water," seeping through the track's dense moving parts without solidifying into a tangible shape. Notably, he never builds to the impassioned shrieks that have become his vocal trademark. But even without that climactic release, the intuitive gasps and twirls in his delivery remain distinctive and inspired.
Animal Collective »
i didnt like strawberry jam. I like this.