With six studio albums and an ever expanding following, Panda Bear, Avey Tare, Geologist and Deacon – aka Animal Collective – return with their eagerly-awaited new album Strawberry Jam. Pure genius, we reckon it’s one of the most exciting records you’ll hear this year.

It’s impossible to pigeonhole Animal Collective’s sound, except to say that each album vents the band’s need to pummel and scream their way into some strange new harmony, resulting in a mesmerising kaleidoscope of colour and sound you always feel privileged to have witnessed.

Think of Arcade Fire’s crazy little bro kicking out the jams in another dimension, The Flaming Lips on good acid, Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds era protégés coming alive in 2007. It’s chaotic, provocative, captivating and beautiful. It’s Strawberry Jam!