Grizzly Bear: Out Of Hibernation

The backstory to Grizzly Bear’s 2006 ‘sort of’ debut seemed to fill as many column inches as anything else about the band. As mundane as it may be, four friends fleeing the myriad distractions of New York in favour of an upstate country house in glorious sunshine to write and record without deadlines or expectations, caught the attention of those listening in. The fact that the resultant album Yellow House sounded more like it had been written during a glistening Nebraskan winter than in summery upstate New York further fuelled romantic notions of Grizzly Bear as being completely isolated from the constrictions of any kind of scene.

Thankfully though, Yellow House spoke for itself. A slow-burner of lo-fi indie, grand country, ever-so-slight experimentation and even a hint of Disney sparkle, it spearheaded its way to various best-of lists that year. Combined with being signed to, oddly enough, the largely electronic label Warp, it brought them to a much bigger audience than their official debut Horn of Plenty (really a solo project by founding member Ed Droste) had ever hinted at. Still, even amongst the rave reviews there were open questions about what better production, outside guidance and a more conventional track-listing would reap for Grizzly Bear. In many ways, follow-up Veckatimest is the answer to such ruminations.

From opening track Southern Point - which, in Grizzly Bear terms gallops along on cascading piano, rousing strings and theatrical vocals - quickly followed by the startlingly simple piano pop melody of Two Weeks, it seems that the sleepy fug of Yellow House has cleared for what must assuredly be the bands’ open arms embrace of their growing popularity. As if on cue, The Skinny patches in a call to singer Daniel Rossen as he bunkers down in a Paris hotel room ahead of Veckatimest’s release. “It’s the first time we’ve ever really done a trip like this,” he begins of the bands interview-only tour. “We didn’t do this the last time around.”

No surprises there, given that Yellow House crept up on most of us with a quiet little shuffle. However, Rossen’s main concern is that such attention ultimately proves warranted. I put it to him that I think it will be, especially given that Veckatimest sounds like a big leap forward for the band. “We really wanted a more dynamic and clear record with a more immediate sound,” he admits. “There’s some pretty weird stuff on the record too, but it’s nice to have the variation of the simpler pop songs, to have the happier songs and moodier songs together. It’s much more dynamic.”

Rossen puts this change in mood and tempo down to several factors, with the recording venues being top of the list. Rather than the singular isolation of before, Veckatimist was recorded in three different locations. However, in what may perhaps prove to be typical Grizzly fashion, they remain somewhat unconventional venues. Yes, they did record a considerable amount in Allaire Studios, outside New York, but there is a twist. “It’s actually a defunct studio,” laughs Rossen. “But they have this beautiful old sixties board that I think was built by George Martin – that was pretty interesting. But it’s just too difficult to maintain. Its got all this vintage recording equipment, but it takes too many staff to keep it going because it’s constantly breaking.”

With a cathedral-sized room, vaulted ceilings and a view overlooking the Catskill mountains, it’s perhaps not surprising that the results from recording sessions at Allaire differed from those at the titular ‘yellow house’. It was here that the “loud, dynamic stuff” as Rossen puts it, took shape. “Everywhere we went we did different material,” he elaborates. Fans of Yellow House, feeling uneasy at talk of ‘pop tunes’ and ‘accessibility’, may take comfort from one of the other sanctuaries that Rossen and co. found inspiration. Singer Ed Droste’s grandmother’s house in Cape Cod, Massachusetts saw the band retreat from the city once again. “It was similar (to Yellow House) in that we didn’t have any set schedules,” says Rossen of their time spent there. “We’d live in the house and some of us would be cooking whilst others would be recording. On this record you can hear the fire crackling and stuff that’s going on around the house a little bit.”

As the band took an active interest outwith their domestic confines they became enamoured by a nearby, uninhabited island. Its remoteness struck a chord with the band, going on to shape the album they were working on. The island's name; Veckatimest. “It just appealed to us and it really reminded us of where we were recording,” explains Rossen. “We have a fondness for that area. ‘Veckatimest’ seemed to really just work and click and go together so...it just kind of happened. It’s a little bit arbitrary after Yellow House, which was exactly where we recorded it.”

The other factor which Rossen cites in their new sound was their approach to songwriting and an increased confidence in their individual places within the band. With side-projects such as Rossen’s Department of Eagles and time-sapping tours with the likes of Radiohead, each Grizzly dude had to approach crafting the album a little differently this time around. Various pairs and permutations arose, demos were passed around within the band and material was written on the spot. “It was much more collaborative in that way,” says Rossen. “There was a lot more free interplay. I think we were able to showcase the band a lot more, the way that we play together and what we’ve learned on tour together over the last couple of years. It was a much fresher way of working.”

With this newfound confidence, an equally exuberant effort was made to showcase the new material. This culminated with the debut performance of ‘obvious single contender’ Two Weeks on The Late Show with David Letterman, a song that, up until that point, only the band's family and friends had heard. Rossen admits it was a nerve-wracking experience, but one borne of artistic frustration. “We didn’t just want to play Knife for the fiftieth time,” he sighs. “We just thought it would be more exciting if we did something new. We knew it was a song that would work for television so we just thought it’d be more interesting for us to do that.”

It’s a gamble that seems to have paid off, whetting the lips of fans whilst opening the band up to a wider audience. It’s something that Rossen welcomes with a refreshingly optimistic outlook, in spite of the pitfalls that such a spotlight brings. Despite sounding like they exist in their own little anachronistic time-period, the power of the Internet has not miraculously passed Grizzly Bear over. In February, with an almost depressing inevitability, Veckatimest was leaked to the world. The band were understandably upset but with its proper release now imminent, Rossen has obviously had time to reflect. “It let a lot of people hear the record and it reached a lot of people that wouldn’t necessarily have heard it,” he admirably concedes. “But the downside I guess is that people download so much music so fast these days that it’s impossible to digest most of it. Actually taking an album as an album and sitting down with it is a little more difficult now and we’re into making full records that work as a whole.”

Rossen needn’t worry though. Sure, we all carry more music in the palm of our hands these days than we could ever properly listen to, but the Grizzly Bear fan seems to be a peculiar beast. One who will actually take time out from the fleeting distractions of the modern world to focus on the craft of a great album. And in that vein Grizzly Bear have delivered their most satisfying long-player yet. Further still, it sounds like they’re only just starting to flex their creative muscle.

Rossen, however, remains unflinchingly modest - still the same man who quietly went about recording an album with some friends for no one other than themselves. “We just wanted to try and see what would happen if we got back together again and really focused,” he sums up. And what happened? I enquire. “I think Grizzly Bear went in a different direction,” he offers. A direction we’ll happily follow.