December 6, 2011 15:36

Animal Collective: 'We're five songs into the follow-up to 'Merriweather Post Pavilion''

Band say they're 'really excited' about recent sessions

Photo Gallery: Animal Collective
Photo: Tom Oxley

Animal Collective have revealed that they're currently working on a new album.

In an interview with Madison.com, band member Avey Tare said that the experimental indie group were preparing to enter the studio in January to begin work on the follow-up to 2009's 'Merriweather Post Pavilion'.

He said:

We just finished another two weeks of writing sessions and put together five new songs. We're really excited about this record… and it's been really fun jamming with those guys again.

Tare, who released his debut solo album 'Down There' in October last year, also said that he worried that Animal Collective fans didn't like his individual material, adding: "I like my own music to be a bit more minimal. Sometimes I wonder if that turns some Animal Collective fans off because they're used to the barrage of sounds [we] throw at them.

"But I love drone music and techno and even sparser singer-songwriter stuff, so I like to explore that kind of world on my own."

Animal Collective member Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox, also released his own solo album, 'Tomboy', earlier this year. The record was the follow-up to his 2007 LP 'Person Pitch'.

The band also released their long-awaited "visual album" 'ODDSAC' in August of last year.