Crestone (Original Score)

Baltimore filmmaker Marnie Ellen Hertzlers 2020 debut film, Crestone, is centered around a small group of music-makers living in an off-the-grid desert town, posting rap songs online as they move through an ethereal, semi-apocalyptic existence. Animal Collectives moments of psychedelic big-beat electro-pop might make them seem like a poor fit for the soundtrack to a film about open spaces and dreamlike living, but bandmembers Deakin and Geologist return to the groups earlier abstract days for a largely understated score that aligns perfectly with the films arid, drifting qualities. The majority of Crestone [Original Score] is brief miniatures made up of just a few components. Animal Collectives love of bringing together electronic and acoustic sounds shows up in the mix of piano plinks and buzzsaw synth frequencies on Sad Boy Sleeping or the flurries of heavily processed acoustic guitar and tabla in Sand That Moves. Occasionally, dialogue from the film or gentle natural sound effects seep into the mix, other times Deakin and Geologist disrupt the flow of the collection with jarring bursts of electronic noise. Like with much of Animal Collectives output, the duo spend the majority of the Crestone score testing how far they can tip the balance of chaos and beauty in either direction. When they reach a place of sublime beauty, as with the heavenly, harp-like ambience of Benzs Dream or the ebullient guitar strums and sweetly twisted synth melodies of Oh California, they return to the kind of atmospheres that made early Animal Collective experiments like Campfire Songs so quietly compelling. The experiments with dissonance and confusion are less immediately digestible, but it wouldnt be an Animal Collective release without both extremes. ~ Fred Thomas