Animal Collective Share New EP and Apologize for Using ‘Racist Stereotype’ in Artwork
Animal Collective have released a new EP titled Bridge to Quiet.
Assembled in April and May, it comes from a series of improvisations recorded over the previous year.
“We remixed them, collaged them, and built them into songs,” they wrote, adding that the “cathartic process” also pushed them to begin another “new project in the same fashion.”
The majority of the band’s catalog is available on Bandcamp, including all of their LPs and the digital debut of several deep cuts.
In a recent newsletter to fans, the experimental Brooklyn group has addressed racist connotations of some of their older work.
They’ve decided to change the album artwork of their 2006 ‘People’ EP, labeling it a “racist stereotype”, and the title of their 2003 album ‘Here Comes The Indian’.
The artwork for the ‘People’ EP is a cartoon depiction of a black nanny with two white children, identified as an offensive “mammy” US stereotype, rooted in slavery.
“There is no way to excuse using a “mammy” on our artwork, and so we have decided to remove it,” Animal Collective wrote.
“We understand now that using a racist stereotype at all causes more damage than an explanation can repair, and we apologize. Moving forward, we will be donating a portion of our royalties from this record to the Equal Justice Initiative.”
Animal Collective have also said they would change the title of ‘Here Comes The Indian’ to its working title, ‘Ark’.
The band then committed to donate a portion of the royalties to their 2017 ‘Meeting of the Waters’ EP to Cultural Survival. The EP included samples of the Tatuyo tribe in Brazil playing music for the Viceland program Earthworks.
“With utmost respect to Indigenous people we feel that having the word Indian in our record title sends the wrong message by objectifying the American Indian people which is not what we were intending with the music,” they said.
“Because we have drawn countless inspiration from Indigenous people in America and around the world, moving forward, we will be donating a portion of our royalties from this record to Seeding Sovereignty, and changing the title to its original working title, Ark.”
Additionally, they’ll be splitting a donation of $10,000, along with all of the proceeds from their 7/3 Bandcamp sales, between Cultural Survival, Equal Justice Initiative, Seeding Sovereignty, Southerners on New Ground, and The Okra Project.
The tickets for Animal Collective shows can be found here.
