Two years has passed since the release of Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion. By pushing the envelop musically with tracks incuding "My Girls," "Brothersport," "Lion in a Coma" and "Summertime Clothes," MPP came out on top as one of the best albums released in 2009.
In an interview with Madison.com, Andy Downing writes that frontman David Portner, also known as Avey Tare, recently relocated to New York City from Baltimore to begin work on the follow-up to MPP.
"We just finished another two weeks of writing session and put together five new songs," Portner said. "We're really excited about this record, and it's been really fun jamming with those guys again."
Portner noted that the band will begin production of the the album sometime in January 2012. In addition, the new album will be produced by a complete Animal Collective lineup, the first time since 2007's Strawberry Jam. Josh Dibb, also known as Deakin, rejoined the band in 2011 following his departure in 2007.
According to Pitchfork, Portner told The Baltimore Sun in July that the band had 10 new songs written prior to their performance at the "real" Merriweather Post Pavilion. Fast forward to present, Animal Collective will be taking 15 new songs into the studio.
Watch Animal Collective perform a new, untitled song, as well as "Brothersport" from their performance at the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival earlier this year.