# Sinister Grift

Sinister Grift is the eighth studio album by American musician Panda Bear. It was released on February 28, 2025, through Domino Recording Company. It features contributions by Animal Collective bandmate Deakin and Canadian band Cindy Lee.

## Background and recording

Sinister Grift was recorded at Noah Lennox' own Estudio Campo in Lisbon, Portugal. He co-produced the album with Animal Collective bandmate Josh Dibb, also known as Deakin. Dibb described work on the album as a "sacred and warm return" between the two, combining "30 years" of songwriting together as part of the band as well as a "new chapter" for Lennox.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The Guardian | |
| Laut.de | |
| Mojo | |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10 |
| Slant Magazine | |
| Under the Radar | 8.5/10 |
On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 82 based on 14 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Sadie Sartini Garner of Pitchfork awarded Sinister Grift the distinction of Best New Music and praised the emotional complexity displayed by Panda Bear on the album. Garner observed that the artist appears to be "falling apart" but is ultimately "cool with chilling" until it gets better. In a four-star review, Andrew Male of Mojo noticed a "dubious uplift" throughout the record which eventually reveals an "exquisite melancholy introspection", sprinkled with "optimism" as well as "sadness". The Guardian's Alexis Petridis highlighted the "striking emotional arc" as presented by Lennox, with plenty of "playlistable psych-pop" that "turns introspective".
In a mixed review, Charles Lyons-Burt at Slant Magazine acknowledged the "affable and good-natured spirit" that runs through the album but also sensed that Lennox might have not felt "entirely comfortable" venturing "into rock terrain" as he did on the record. In a two-star review, Franz Mauerer of Laut.de opined that Lennox became "weirdly predictable" and described the album as "boring". Mauerer added that the second star out of five was awarded solely for the album's "craftsmanship" and none for its entertainment value.

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Noah Lennox; "Anywhere but Here" written with Nadja Lennox.

## Personnel

* Noah Lennox – vocals, guitar, bass, production, engineering (all tracks); percussion (tracks 1–7), drums (1–6, 10), synthesizer (1–6), piano (7), sounds (8)
* Josh Dibb – production, mixing, engineering (all tracks); synthesizer (tracks 5, 6), percussion (8), piano (10)
* Heba Kadry – mastering
* Paul Mercer – mixing assistance
* Brian Weitz – sounds (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9)
* Maria Reis – backing vocals (tracks 1, 4)
* Rivka Ravede – backing vocals (track 1, 4), artwork
* Nadja Lennox – vocals (track 2)
* Walsh Kunkel – lap steel guitar (tracks 3, 7, 8)
* Dave Portner – noises (track 4)
* Cindy Lee – guitar (track 10)
* Steven Lind – guitar engineering (track 10)
* Björn Copeland – art direction
* Rob Carmichael – design

## Charts

Chart performance for Sinister Grift :
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) | 67 |
| UK Albums Sales (OCC) | 43 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) | 16 |
| US Top Album Sales (Billboard) | 37 |