Though Animal Collective consistently changes its sound, from empty Texas Chainsaw Massacre eeriness to warped freak-folk to indie rock eruptions, meandering dirges and electronic clatter, it has always sounded unmistakably like Animal Collective. This is largely thanks to the beautiful juxtaposition between Avey Tare’s (a.k.a. Dave Portner) vocal explosions and Panda Bear’s (a.k.a. Noah Lennox) sweet lullaby melodies that have stuck with the band through all of its permutations.

The sonic transformation continues on its latest album, Merriweather Post Pavillion, but this time, without its vocal calling cards, leaving listeners without a familiar branch to grasp on the ever-morphing tree. Fortunately, the underwater electro-tropicalia jams the band explores here are inviting and easy to get a hold of.

Taking much of its direction from Panda Bear’s sample-heavy 2007 album Person Pitch, Pavilion is relaxed and dreamy, content to find a steady groove that allows listeners to get lost in the dense electronics and aquatic atmosphere. Tinny synth arpeggios, layered vocal harmonies, murky reverb, thick bass blasts — a new fascination for the band — and ambient gurgles dominate the landscape on Pavilion, creating the band’s first true head-bobber.

Each song is tight and purposeful but still has ample room to explore its crevasses. “My Girls” slowly builds from a single repeating melody into a thumping coda with multi-layered vocals tangling together. “Daily Routine” gradually unravels, eventually leaving little more than plaintive piano and reverb-drenched vocals. “Lion in a Coma” hops along on a bass line that sounds like a cartoon spring, and heavenly backing “oohs.”

While Merriweather Post Pavilion does lack some of the dynamism of the Animal Collective’s earlier work, it’s the band’s most fully realized accomplishment. Animal Collective once again arrives at a new sound and, though it discarded some of its most distinctive elements, the results are even more thrilling than before.