A different player for each part
Noah Lennox played most of the guitar, bass, keyboards and drums on Sinister Grift himself. Taking those overdubbed parts on stage required them to be played simultaneously. In the Panda Bear band, Lennox has a guitar and the lead microphone. Tim Koh takes bass, Rivka Ravede samplers, Maria Reis keyboards and percussion, and Tomé Silva drums. All four also sing backing vocals. That distribution is the musical starting point of the new live album.[1]
On a layered studio recording, one musician can finish a part before moving to the next. In a quintet, each part becomes tied to somebody else’s timing. The space bass and drums leave each other, or keyboards leave a vocal, becomes shared arranging work. The concrete change here is the distribution of roles within Lennox’s songs to other musicians. Giving the same compositions a form that can be played together is the value of that personnel decision.[1]
pb band live 25 at power station brings that lineup into New York’s Power Station studio. The session took place in autumn 2025 after the UK and European leg of the Sinister Grift tour. Producer Josh “Deakin” Dibb also co-produced Sinister Grift. The shared version of Take Pills is the first preview of the 17-track release; Domino has announced December 11 as its release date.[1]
Returning to older songs with the same lineup
The set list reaches beyond the latest album. Ferry Lady, Ends Meet and Praise come from Sinister Grift. Take Pills reaches back to 2007’s Person Pitch; Tomboy’s title song and Slow Motion appear in the same session. That selection invites a reading of the touring lineup as an ensemble carrying songs from different periods of the catalogue.[1]
Less frequently circulated pieces also enter the programme. Song for Ariel later developed into Animal Collective’s Guys Eyes. Boneless is a reworking connected to the Notwist. Shepard Tone and The Preakness come from EPs. Assigning them to the same lineup may create a new instrumental kinship among older songs. Alternatively, the selection may simply preserve a programme the musicians had already rehearsed on tour.[1]
For a listener, the album’s interest lies in bringing the same instrumental distribution to songs with different origins. Parts assembled individually by one person become the responsibility of other voices and hands. A lineup formed around the stage requirements of Sinister Grift also supplies a shared performing arrangement for material extending from Person Pitch to Buoys. It offers a concrete way into the catalogue: the composition first, then the people playing it at the same time.[1]