Panda Bear and Sonic Boom have announced their collaborative LP A ? Of WHEN, arriving July 10 via physical formats and download, with no streaming platforms. The title track is available to download now, and the album features harpist Mary Lattimore, Daniel O’
By the time most releases hit the timeline, Panda Bear and Sonic Boom have already decided to step off it. Their new collaborative LP, A ? Of WHEN, arrives July 10 via physical formats and download, with no streaming platforms included at all.
The title track is available to download today. but the rest of the project is set up to be met somewhere else—somewhere quieter than feeds and faster-than-thought recommendation engines. A ?. Of WHEN follows 2022’s Reset, and it leans on collaborators who bring texture rather than algorithmic gloss. Harpist Mary Lattimore appears on the record, along with British multi-instrumentalist Daniel O’Sullivan. Zena Kay contributes on pedal steel guitar.
In their statement, Noah Lennox and Peter Kember frame the album as an argument made in sound—about connection, distraction, and what happens when everything is flattened into a scroll.
“Change. Exciting & frightening at the same time. The slow slips & the big shifts. Highs & lows from the distraction of connectivity. AI slop becomes an AI slope. Algorithm tables & algorithms tumble. We’re taking things a little off piste.”
They also position the record against the current habits of modern listening. “More rock n’ roll than flick & scroll… From here on in we’re getting back to a place of real connectivity. ” Lennox and Kember say. pointing to their newly released “Graveyard”/“Lucky Charm” 7″—notably “only available from record stores.” In the same statement. they spell out what listeners won’t find: “there’s no streaming. no videos. and a minimisation of online everything.”.
Instead, their plan is to meet listeners at a slower pace, in more physical spaces. “Going forward we’re looking to radio. live shows. listening parties. Q&A sessions & real life interactions to get back to a place we feel makes more sense.” The message tightens further into a direct invitation: “To that end. we’re asking you to join us offline. outside of social media. To meet us in the real world. IRL not URL…”.
The record’s tracklist gives that promise a shape you can count down to:
1. Never givin’ in
2. Lucky Charm
3. Revive him
4. Something like dreaming
5. A ? of WHEN
6. Pray to you
7. Be the bridge
8. Like a moth to the flame
9. Somethin’ that lasts
10. Graveyard
It’s a clean break from convenience, but it isn’t framed as nostalgia. It’s framed as choice—about where attention belongs when everything else is competing for it. And with A ?. Of WHEN landing on July 10 without streaming platforms. Panda Bear and Sonic Boom are asking their audience to do something increasingly rare in music culture: show up.
Panda Bear Sonic Boom A ? Of WHEN Noah Lennox Peter Kember Reset July 10 release streaming-free record stores Mary Lattimore Daniel O’Sullivan Zena Kay pedal steel guitar