The Leaves Are Falling / The Seeds Are Being Planted by Coral Cat

The cycle of life and death: an endless well of storytelling potential best addressed, of course, with hyperpop. The Leaves Are Falling / The Seeds Are Being Planted by Coral Cat takes heavy influence from Animal Collective’s cyclical structures and organic rhythms, massaging these deeply psychedelic elements into an aesthetic otherwise defined wholly by glitch pop and hyper pop. Meditative mantras slot into the cogs of sharp, edgy, electronic gears, constructing musical animatronics that move organically despite their components of sharp synths, distorted sound effects, and intense autotune. Rather than falling into an uncanny valley, however, this pseudo-organic aesthetic comes across as more honest than much of the music that chases the same feel, wearing its artificial influences on its sleeve and inviting in a charming level of digital distortion. By binding the manufactured to the spiritual without conflating the two, Coral Cat presents us with a sound as usable as a piece of danceable fun as it is for deep psychedelic contemplation, giving us computer music that satisfies our search for meaning without intimidating us.