Animal Collective – Feels (2xLP)

Feels by Animal Collective unfolds like a kaleidoscopic dream, filled with swirling rhythms, intimate vocals, and lush textures that merge spontaneity with emotional depth. Layered instrumentation—from swooning piano to rippling guitars and tribal drumbeats—creates a vivid soundscape that feels both intimate and expansive, engaging the listener in a playful yet profound journey. The album’s seamless blend of experimental techniques and melodic coherence marks it as a peerless entry in the psychedelic pop genre.

The record pulses with raw energy and unfiltered creativity, as the band channels childlike wonder and delirious joy across tracks like “The Purple Bottle,” “Grass,” and “Banshee Beat.” Its organic vibrancy and layered harmonies achieve a delicate balance between chaos and calm, resulting in an exhilarating experience that rewards repeated listening with new emotional textures and sonic revelations.

Reviews

“Feels is an excellent record, one that, despite a more conventional approach, happens to get better over time.” – Pitchfork

“The group sounds freer than ever before, almost as though they've never bothered with rock in their lives, and have only happened upon a bare few LPs before beginning their recording career.” – AllMusic

“Swapping campfire cosiness for expansive joy, they sound so accomplished the Flaming Lips comparisons fall by the wayside.” – The Guardian

“Ringing guitars, rippling piano, and pounding drums are just a way to express a sense of exuberance as big and as purposeless as a forest… their voices… astounds: whispering, shrieking, muttering, pleading, sighing… unnervingly intimate.” – Pitchfork (list of 200 Best Albums of the 2000s)

“The second half of Feels is better than the first, mostly because it’s calmer. Early tracks … are so bombastically cheery as to make The Polyphonic Spree seem phlegmatic…” – Slant Magazine