Albums to watch

Time Skiffs

Animal Collective

Time Skiffs

Eleventh studio album from the experimental pop collective and first for six years

ADM rating[?]

7.4

Label
Domino
UK Release date
04/02/2022
US Release date
04/02/2022
  1. 10.0 |   The Independent

    Time Skiffs mostly sticks to the otherworldly, spaced-out sound Animal Collective have been known for since 2003. But now the band members are in their forties, there’s a new sense of groundedness, as though, faced with certain inevitabilities, they feel more connected than ever to the world around them
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  2. 8.7 |   Paste Magazine

    On their first studio album in six years, the legendary neo-psych group make peace with present-day anxieties while paying tribute to their past
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  3. 8.4 |   Northern Transmissions

    It’s evident that the quartet, as its complete formation, has matured and allowed itself to centre in its songwriting focus. Never losing their need to wander and allow themselves to exponentially experiment, yet aligning in an intent that grounds them so viscerally
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  4. 8.4 |   Pitchfork

    After a prolific period of experimentation, Animal Collective return with an album that achieves a peaceful equilibrium between their immersive 3D soundscaping and innate melodic charms
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  5. 8.3 |   Entertainment Weekly

    Even as they recall their own past, Animal Collective continues to push their work into new, exciting places — and Time Skiffs serves as a reminder of their singular gifts
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  6. 8.0 |   Beats Per Minute

    It’s a great American psychedelic record that retains an outsider perspective. And in that, a decade of ambitious exploration has finally paid off
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  7. 8.0 |   Clash

    ‘Time Skiffs’ is an album that sees the Animal Collective championing the importance to look back, but not stare
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  8. 8.0 |   Under The Radar

    The collective’s preservation of our musical past continues to make time skiff and point the way to the future
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  9. 8.0 |   NME

    After a few wobbly releases (and one that was literally unlistenable), the beloved Baltimore band have found their footing again
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  10. 8.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Time Skiffs angles between incidental blasts of digital fuzz and the purely melodic, resurrecting the freeform yet tangible instinct of Animal Collective’s earlier work; ambitiously addictive without appearing self-indulgently so
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  11. 8.0 |   Uncut

    While tracks like "Cherokee" take a gently pulsing and melodic groove and expand it into something quietly euphoric, before dipping happily back into quieter, odder moments. Print edition only

  12. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Time Skiffs sounds deeply, existentially scattered, every atom is in its rightful place. Print edition only

  13. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    Time Skiffs is a vibrant album, suggesting Animal Collective have well and truly rekindled their collective fire – and because of that, the pleasure is all ours. Gather round and enjoy its heartening warmt
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  14. 8.0 |   The Arts Desk

    As these second-childhood masters hit middle-age, elegiac reflection on their nation seeps into the wonder
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  15. 8.0 |   DIY

    For some, this might be too tame. An album full of ‘Bluish’ rather than ‘Fireworks’. But for others, that means it’s the most accessible
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  16. 7.6 |   Spectrum Culture

    While it doesn’t have the sort of dizzying impact of the group’s best work, Time Skiffs is the most approachable that Animal Collective have been in years, and those looking to jump in (or jump back in) will not be disappointed with what they find
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  17. 7.5 |   A.V. Club

    It may lack the raucous experimentalism of past records, but the tiki lounge exotica vibe makes for a satisfying listen
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  18. 7.0 |   All Music

    Instead of regressing or stepping away from the edge when their sound grew too unhinged, the band continues to evolve in unforecastable directions on Time Skiffs
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  19. 7.0 |   Gigwise

    Unshowy, confident and comforting
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  20. 7.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Animal Collective’s Time Skiffs is the work of a band who are leaning into the nostalgic observations that come with age
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  21. 7.0 |   Exclaim

    Latest offering Time Skiffs — the proper follow-up to 2016's underwhelming Painting With — signals that, after all this time, traces remain of the artistically unified unit capable of groundbreaking pop experimentalism
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  22. 6.0 |   The Skinny

    Following a six-year hiatus, Animal Collective's 11th studio album sounds like a band picking up where they left off, but unfortunately leaves you wanting more
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  23. 6.0 |   PopMatters

    Time Skiffs is a thorough personal reflection on where Animal Collective stand emotionally as a band that know all too well the life of perpetual travel and the experience of passing by
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  24. 6.0 |   No Ripcord

    Time Skiffs isn’t terrible; it’s inoffensive, nice, surprisingly easy-going. But isn’t that the most damning judgement of all? To think this band was the future once
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  25. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Dialling down the psychedelic mayhem, the quartet’s reflective windchimes-and-bamboo album preaches lyrically to their loyal choir
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  26. 6.0 |   Rolling Stone

    The psychedelic band’s latest is a good mix of avant and pop
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  27. 5.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    Animal Collective’s journey to becoming arena-ready underdogs has been well-marred with false peaks, however distinguished; here, it’s resulted in something reasonably forgettable
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