Lisbon and its surroundings brought them together. Although they were already musically aligned, separated only by the constraints of age. It was possible to connect the dots even before hearing what Sonic Boom (Pete Kember) and Panda Bear (Noah Lennox)—both of whom hide behind monikers—would be capable of doing together. Reset, their 2022 debut album, made that obvious to the vast majority. A ? Of WHEN solidifies that affinity. Better yet, it revitalizes the kid inside each of them.
As kids, they want to make a difference. A few weeks ago, their project announced it would be stepping away from social media and the online world. Their music would be off streaming platforms, and the musicians would seek more in-person connections, like in the old days. Concerts, radio shows, listening parties, appearances at record stores—situations that foster human contact, real interactions, and a return to a place that once belonged to them and where things made more sense. Essentially, real connection. And this is actually well documented, in Kember’s case, in Graham Holliday’s book, A-side: Are Your Dreams At Night 1985 Sizes Too Big?, about the experience of seeing Spacemen 3 live in 1985; and, regarding Lennox, look up articles on how Animal Collective grew in the early 2000s thanks to an active presence in the real world, with concerts in stores for a lucky few, especially when they first came to Europe.
In 2026, Panda Bear and Sonic Boom are an escape from the exhaustion we suffer today. How? A ? Of WHEN is an album about taking action. About looking back, to the past, and creating from there. It sounds like a classic before it’s a classic. It sounds as important—without exaggeration—as Person Pitch. However, let’s be realistic, it won’t be, because certain things have their moment, their time. But the truth is there: these new songs that Noah and Pete present a more connected world, from one place to another, from two artists who want us to feel that something is happening and that this happening isn’t just exhaustion from the present. Because, if it is, what the hell are we doing here? To each his own. But their “when” is now. And now is now is now. With these songs alive, live, at the very moment these ideas are bubbling.
AS