With melodies that bring to mind Brian Wilson, Morricone and Steely Dan, High Llamas’ Sean O’Hagan cites Tierra Whack & Tyler the Creator as influences for the forward-thinking production on new album ‘Hey Panda’ (out now via Drag City ft. Rae Morris, Bonnie Prince Billy & Fryars).

For the past few decades, High Llamas have trafficked in contemporary pop sounds directed toward the avant end of the spectrum as much as not. But here the message was clear. Llamas’ composer-in-residence Sean O’Hagan was determined to let go. Hey Panda does just that, with a set of tunes reflecting on multiple levels how definitions change over the course of a lifetime, radiating an optimism derived from the diverse conundrums of today.

Eight years since their last release, the pop musical Here Come The Rattling Trees, High Llamas have reinvented themselves again, mixing their peerless harmonic voice with what Sean regards as the “extraordinarily good” production sounds of today on Hey Panda.