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.[3] 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.[4]
On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 81 based on 15 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[6] 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.[11] 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".[10]The Guardian's Alexis Petridis highlighted the "striking emotional arc" as presented by Lennox, with plenty of "playlistable psych-pop" that "turns introspective".[1]
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.[2] 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.[15]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Noah Lennox; "Anywhere but Here" written with Nadja Lennox.
