Anyone remotely familiar with the psych-folk world will instantly recognize the name Animal Collective, who’ve been cranking out incredibly experimental, strange albums since 2000. Cutely enough, the labels putting out their releases are called Paw Tracks and Fat Cat. Even cuter is the fact that one of the members of Animal Collective calls his project Panda Bear. If they weren’t making music that hints at several years of extended drug use, you’d think they were teenage girls.

Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox’s 2004 release, Young Prayer received an overwhelming amount of attention, it seemed, possibly more than Animal Collective, even. I can’t say that Young Prayer particularly grabbed me, but when I got an e-mail with a link to a song from his upcoming album, Person Pitch, I couldn’t help but be curious because of how well his first album did.

Panda Bear: “Comfy In Nautica” (download)

“Comfy In Nautica” shows Panda Bear changing course from his last album, which, to me, didn’t sound much different than most Animal Collective releases. The vocals reminded me instantly of the Beach Boys, while the music is electronic/synth-based. Think, perhaps, of what Of Montreal would sound like if they weren’t remotely dance-able. I’d like to think that this song is representative of what the rest of the album will sound like, but knowing PR companies & record labels and how they choose songs, the jury is out. Person Pitch drops on March 20th.