PANDA BEAR

Noah Lennox talks with ASCAP for their Audio Portraits series regarding Tomboy, going over “You Can Count On Me,” “Alsatian Darn,” “Tomboy,” “Afterburner,” and “Benfica.” From ASCAP:

Panda Bear’s Tomboy is the latest solo recording by Noah Lennox, the singer-songwriter centerpiece of Animal Collective. In this soothing yet sonically adventurous recording, Lennox explores personal questions about work and family behind a lush and moodily intriguing veil of layered sound, harmony, vocals and percussive convergences. Lennox wants to take listeners on a journey of aural delights and inner awakenings — and he does.

Liner Notes
Express asked Noah Lennox to explain the stories behind three standout songs from his fouth album, “Tomboy:”

“You Can Count on Me”

The album-opener is a response to “Person Pitch’s” “I’m Not,” which was about the pressure of having his first child. “You Can Count on Me” is Lennox’s “taking care of business song.” He hopes others find it a source of strength or a rallying call.

“Slow Motion”

Inspired by 1990s R&B, “Slow Motion” features the genre’s “chunky and heavy” production. Both in name and sound, it owes a great debt to Mary J Blige’s “Real Love,” which was “a source of inspiration for the rhythmic side of that song,” Lennox says.

“Last Night at the Jetty”

“Last Night at the Jetty” is a nostalgic song on two levels, Lennox says. On one, it’s about Lennox’s relationship with making music and how that’s changed over time: “I feel like I’m constantly trying to hide things about the meaning of the songs and where I’m coming from,” he explains. On the other, it’s literally about a “last night at the jetty” for a group of friends (inspired by Lennox’s own pals); when the night was over, “they knew they would never have that vibe again.”