Panda Bear's latest may have been rejected by the Calm meditation app, but that doesn't mean it isn't supremely chill.
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As a member of Animal Collective, Noah Lennox has made his fair share of ambient-oriented music. However, it's rare that the Lisbon-based musician drops purely atmospheric work. His latest release is a 17-minute instrumental. It was apparently rejected by the Calm meditation app, who have partnered with musicians ranging from Keith Urban to Toro y Moi to score their phone-guided exercises. "calm app (rejected") begins with droning synthesis, which morphs into a swirl of stringwork that calls to mind an Indian raga.
Eventually, it disintegrates into the sounds of waves crashing against the shore. Recent Animal Collective albums (most notably Tangerine Reef) have explored a particularly ethereal strain of electronic music with mixed results. This captivating aural journey puts a more confident spin on that style, with a distinct sense of motion and repetition that brings to mind the longer songs from his modern classic Person Pitch.