Panda Bear has shared his bass-heavy new song “Playing the Long Game,” a one-off single that follows the Animal Collective member’s 2019 solo LP Buoys.
Like that album, “Playing the Long Game” boasts production by Rusty Santos, who worked with Panda Bear to create Buoys’ “hyper-modern,” sub-bass-reliant sound. “We would listen to Migos, Bad Bunny and Ozuna every morning. Rusty hoped that [this album] would sonically fit alongside what’s happening in trap and reggaeton,” Panda Bear previously told Rolling Stone of Buoys.
“Playing the Long Game” is accompanied by a Fernanda Pereira-directed music video featuring Panda Bear and a trio of masked women slowly walking along riverside paths.
“The song is about a brief series of thoughts I had one morning about who I am, what I’m doing, and where I’m going,” Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox said in a statement. “Hope you enjoy it and hope all’s well.”
Panda Bear is currently on the road with Animal Collective for a brief U.S. tour during which the band has focused on mostly new material; following the six-date trek, Animal Collective plans on entering the studio to work on the follow-up to 2016’s Painting With.