by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Panda Bear & Sonic Boom revisit their 2022 album Reset in the company of dub royalty, producer Adrian Sherwood. Sherwood took the album through his On-U Sound studios in the company of musicians Doug Wimbisch and Skip McDonald.

Panda Bear (aka Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox) and Sonic Boom (Peter Kember) wrote the original downtempo album with strong Caribbean influences, and Kember spoke of how Jamaican rocksteady played a big part in his thinking for the original Reset album. When the opportunity for a dub album arose he immediately thought of Sherwood.

The artistic respect is mutual, as Sherwood himself is a fan of Animal Collective. He describes how they wanted to keep “all the elements of trippy fun, but with added menace, groove and an ultra-active mix for the ‘heads’.

What’s the music like?

Rather special – and in some cases it transports the listener overseas almost immediately. That much is clear from the lead single Edge Of The Edge, where the sighing motif sounds like the tide lapping gently at the shore. Elsewhere Sherwood gives us a mind-expanding treat, whether attending to the saxophone sound on Gettin’ To The Point Dub or overseeing a healthy dose of funk to the mix for Everyday Dub. There is a lovely breezy disposition to this music, especially in the likes of In My Body Dub and the dreamy piano of Go On Dub, where the wide open textures complement Panda Bear’s rounded tones.

Danger Dub is especially good, firing up a quicker tempo, while Whirlpool Dub is full of cleverly worked sonic displacements. Livin’ In The After Dub has a folksy melody with a harmonica which gets the Sherwood reverb treatment, the drums setting us in a woozy fireside spot. Perhaps the best is saved for last, Everything’s Been Leading To This Dub an epic production, booming low vocals twinned with glittering guitar and bright brass.

Does it all work?

It does – effortlessly so. This is music that creates its own hot weather, and the stripped back approach works a treat. So too does Sherwood’s instinct on when to throw the perspectives wide open or bring them up close, using Lennox’s voice to its full potential.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically – but only on the assumption that you’ve already purchased the original album!

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