Sean O’Hagan has always seemed like a musician who has followed his nose. That has served the former Microdisney and Stereolab man well over the decades, although it hasn’t always led to commercial success; some albums by High Llamas, the band he formed in 1991, have been more successful (and memorable) than others. Still, the London-born Cork man’s approach to “avant-pop” has affected musicians you might never have expected, such as the rapper Tyler, the Creator, who espoused his love of the band’s 2007 track Dorothy Ashby on social media several years ago.
Hey Panda is the first High Llamas album since 2016, although O’Hagan has not been resting on his laurels in the intervening years. Recent collaborative credits include work on The Coral’s recent album Sea of Mirrors, the soundtrack to the film Funny Games (produced by the Safdie brothers) and a contribution to Wish You Were Gay, a Billie Eilish cover by Bonnie “Prince” Billy (who also cowrote two songs here) and Bill Callahan. It’s safe to say that he remains as difficult to categorise as ever.
Hey Panda is testament to O’Hagan’s mercurial creativity. Every song here is an offbeat pop odyssey, packed tightly with imagination in the form of odd key changes, a multitude of vocal effects and songs that sound as though they were cut and pasted from a kooky musical scrapbook. That’s more pleasing that it might sound on paper; the title track, with its hip-hop production and gloopy, slow-drip melody, is a delight. It’s also one of several songs here that liberally uses AutoTune; The Grade and the soulful How the Best Was Won both push the boundaries of O’Hagan’s idiosyncratic style and willingness to experiment. It’s easy to see why he has cited the likes of the R&B acts SZA, Sault and Steve Lacy as informative this time around.
More often than not, such dizzying explorations are enjoyable, although there is a tendency for some songs to wander and consequently fade into the background. The soft bumble of Yoga Goat is one such example, while the sweet lyrical sentiment of Toriafan (“It’s an honour to play now, play my guitar / Give my thoughts to the strings”) is not quite enough to hold attention. On the other hand, the addition of the vocalists Rae Morris and O’Hagan’s daughter Livvy on several tracks, including the dreamy squelch-pop standout Sisters Friends, adds depth and contrast to his often vaporous vocals and abstract musings. It’s safe to say that High Llamas remain anything other than conventional, but this record shows that it’s never too late to stop taking creative risks – and that a sense of fun remains an essential component, too.
