Dark Cloud Descended Again

Panda Bear “Boys Latin”

I love the way Panda Bear will focus on melody and harmony to the extent that the sheer sound of it will make his lyrics nearly illegible, as if the words are only there for architectural reasons. The chorus of “Boys Latin” is all about that cycle of notes, and the way they fall just out of phase with all that reverb. He does a version of this trick a lot on Meets the Grim Reaper, and it has this lovely ghost-like effect – the harmony is like a mirage, and it disrupts a sense of “gravity” in the music so the track feels completely weightless. The song has more of a center in the second refrain in the middle of the piece, but that’s where the mood shifts from a sort of joyful prayer to a vague sense of dread, as he sings about sensing the arrival of depressive feelings. In this context, it’s as though the chorus is there as a defense to ward off the bad vibes.

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