Dave Portner (Avey Tare) and Brian Weitz (Geologist) of Animal Collective have announced a new instrumental project, Croz Boyce, and confirmed the release of a self-titled debut album on May 8th via Domino. Debut single Hanging Out With a Blueberry Pop is out now, accompanied by a video featuring cinematography by Joseph Ricketts.
The album comprises nine instrumental tracks built from a blend of electric and acoustic string instruments, synthesizers, and percussion. It was created almost entirely at a distance: Portner would write a guitar theme at home in North Carolina and send it to Weitz in Washington, D.C., who would react to each piece and send it back. Additional mixing came from Animal Collective bandmate Josh Dibb (Deakin), with mastering by Taylor Deupree.
The project’s roots trace back to Brown Thrasher, a collaborative track the pair contributed to the charitable compilation For the Birds in 2021. That song pointed towards a different kind of creative partnership, and with the rest of Animal Collective occupied with other work, Portner and Weitz decided to keep going. The name Croz Boyce evolved from a Dropbox folder labelled “Croz Boys,” created around the time of David Crosby’s death — a fond, accidental nod to the idea that there are far worse ways to spend your time than making music with old friends.
Hanging Out With a Blueberry Pop opens the album with a riverbank looseness, acoustic strums drifting alongside playful electronics before the midsection pulls the whole thing into motion. Ricketts’ underwater cinematography lends the video a luminous, exploratory quality that matches the music’s sense of unguarded discovery.
Croz Boyce is available to pre-order on limited edition first pressing clear vinyl, transparent range cassette, CD, and digitally. Pre-order Dom Mart | Digital