Review Summary: Animal Collective abandons the surreal and noisy for a grounded and powerful acoustic record.
Strangely, in the entirety of Animal Collective's absolutely madcap discography, filled to the brim with wild excursions into freak-folk, noise pop, and the undefinable
Here Comes The Indian,
Campfire Songs is the biggest anomaly within their nearly 17 year history. Within
Campfire Songs, Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Deakin attempted to make a record that was as warm and inviting as a campfire, and succeeded with flying colors.
Campfire Songs has a level of emotion that, excluding
Feels, has never been matched due to its grounding in reality. While Animal Collective often hid themselves behind walls of noise and dreamy soundscapes, all they have within
Campfire Songs is a few acoustic guitars, their voices and the ambient sounds of nature surrounding them. The albums close connection with the bare instrumentation and the warm noises of the trees swaying in the wind is what can make everybody relate to the beautiful music that accompanies the 42 minute runtime of the album.
What makes
Campfire Songs such an anomaly is how Animal Collective resists their impulsive urge to constantly switch between styles of music in their typical haze of manic chaos, and manages to blend all the songs together into a single, continuous take. The album was recorded all in one session on a large screen porch in the bands native state of Maryland, which is one of
Campfire Songs biggest advantages. Although this has become a bit of a cliché when discussing the album, the transition between "Queen in My Pictures" to "Doggy" is one of the most utterly amazing things Animal Collective has pulled off. On paper, a transition between two tracks doesn't sound all that impressive, but they pull it off with a grace and skill that I often find severely lacking on any of their other work.
Campfire Songs could be considered one of the most emotionally powerful of Animal Collective's work, as "Doggy" deals out a charged lamentation and celebration of family pets in an almost-childlike manner, which somehow lends the song an air of melancholy that hasn't been matched since. The 11 minute long closer "De Soto De Son" talks about the aftermath of the death of a loved one in Animal Collective's typically weird and reverential manner, that gives the track an almost religious atmosphere.
Another huge plus for the album is how gorgeous the music sounds. Animal Collective's beautiful harmonies are often placed lower in the mix than the guitars, giving the album an ethereal quality, and along with the constant sounds of the crickets and cicadas of Maryland's forests laying at the bottom of the record,
Campfire Songs ranks among some of the beautiful music ever recorded.
Campfire Songs is an album that is severely ignored by the majority of Animal Collective's fans, which is a massive injustice to this breathtaking and resplendent collection of stunningly beautiful songs.
