''Young Prayer'' is the second solo album by American

experimental pop Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental techniques such as musique concrète, a ...

musician

Panda Bear The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes ...

, released on September 28, 2004. It follows his debut solo album ''

'' (1999). It is his first since co-founding

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is characterized ...

Background

None of the songs on the album have a title because Lennox wanted the album to be "one nugget of sound. I put the track markers in there just to separate the sections."Interview The Milk Factory
April 2005
The songs were all written around the time of the death of Lennox' father. About this fact, Lennox said: In another Interview, Lennox got into detail about this: The whole album was written in a very quick process and recorded with

member Deakin in "two or three days or something."Hatch-Miller, R
"Dusted Feature: Panda Bear,"
''Dusted Magazine''.
According to the artist, it "is very classically influenced. All the weird baroque flourishes and stuff in terms of the way I’m singing. And that was definitely intentional, I set out to do something that sounded like that."
The album was produced and mixed entirely without Lennox by

Rusty Santos Rusty Santos is a record producer and musician based in Los Angeles. He is known for producing, recording, mixing and/or mastering records like Animal Collective’s '' Sung Tongs'' and the reissue of '' Danse Manatee'', Panda Bear’s ''Person ...

and the rest of

. Though it was changed quite a bit during the post-production, Lennox was "very happy with the way it sounded"Interview
''Má Fama'' radio, January 8, 2007 when he received the result. The album art was produced by Abby Portner, the sister of fellow

member Dave Portner aka

Avey Tare David Michael Portner (born April 24, 1979), also known by his moniker Avey Tare, is a musician and songwriter who co-founded the American experimental pop band Animal Collective. He has released three solo albums, as well as three collaborative ...

Reception

The album was a critical success, even being labeled "Best New Music" by

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

Track listing

References

2004 albums Panda Bear (musician) albums {{2000s-indie-rock-album-stub