For the Record

Animal Collective has had quite a year. Way back in January the Brooklyn/Baltimore-based group released the monumental “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” an album that set the critical world ablaze (many critics wasted no time in deeming it the album of the year) and kicked off the electro-pop trend that so many bands have since unsuccessfully tried to emulate. They embarked on a headlining tour across the United States and Europe and even received some considerable attention from the mainstream media with an appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

Now, as 2009 draws to a close, AC delivers its second ’09 release, the remarkable five-song EP “Fall Be Kind.” Most of its tracks were written during or shortly after the “Merriweather” sessions, but with its blend of the experimental and immediately accessible, the EP stands on its own.

“Graze,” a song about the creative process, opens up “Fall Be Kind” with shimmering, fairytale strings that slowly give way to Avery Tare’s soaring vocals and a gently played piano. The song’s slow, ambient soundscape makes for a satisfying listen, but what occurs during the second half of the track takes it to new heights. Unexpectedly, a playful, swirling flute backed by crashing cymbals and a bouncy vocal melody transforms the song into a medieval romp. This music seems like it was made for elves and hobbits, not a college-aged hipster, but it’s fresh and inventive and like nothing you’ve heard all year.

“What Would I Want? Sky,” the first song ever to feature a legal Grateful Dead sample, continues with more rewarding surprises. The song’s first half is made up of fractured and experimental textures that at first may seem boisterous and random, but upon further listen reveal intricate sonic touches and details that make for an endlessly interesting experience. The last three minutes of “What Would I Want? Sky” find Animal Collective at their most accessible. Tare’s infectious vocal melody and Panda Bear’s ethereal harmonies give the song an immediate but chilling effect.

“Bleed,” the album’s weakest track, serves as a transitional piece, separating the more melodic openers from the haunting and difficult closers. “On a Highway” considers a usual place of escape, the open road, as a prison where every sound and movement trigger thoughts of despair and darkness: “On a highway/I let the bad things taunt me/Or do they want to haunt me?/I do not know how they find me.” Throw in some eerie strings and occasional tones of dissonance, and Animal Collective has created a truly tense and evocative piece.

“I Think I Can,” with its dreamy, layered instrumentation and length of over seven minutes, stands as “Fall Be Kind’s” most epic track. For most of the song, the lyrics invoke a sense of uncertainty and doubt as to whether it’s possible to move on from a situation in the face of “too many tough times.” But as the track closes, Panda Bear, in his familiar Brian Wilson-esque croon, repeats the song’s title with such assurance that we believe that things will actually work out. The dark tone that marked the second side of “Fall Be Kind” is erased, and we, as listeners, are left wondering where these remarkable musicians will take us next.