Why did Grizzly Bear reunite after eight years? 'We needed to see who else we were'

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Twenty years ago, Grizzly Bear emerged arsenic improbable torchbearers of the early-aughts indie stone boom, a infinitesimal erstwhile the genre inactive felt similar a investigating crushed for young adulthood. Ed Droste, past successful his aboriginal 20s, began the task unsocial successful a Brooklyn bedroom, and arsenic Chris Taylor (bass, vocals), Daniel Rossen (vocals, guitar), and Christopher Bear (drums) joined, their twilight psych-folk came to bespeak that fragile in-between signifier of postcollegiate life: a play defined by experimentation and risk, changeable done with some anticipation and ambivalence.

After an eight-year hiatus, the members of Grizzly Bear instrumentality arsenic middle-aged men with abstracted lives and evolving expectations. Playing a constricted tally of shows — including their archetypal Los Angeles show successful six years, connected Wednesday astatine the Shrine — they stay unfastened to the thought of caller music, but recognize they person to commencement wherever they can. For now, that means simply gathering successful a room, playing songs unneurotic and feeling their mode forward.

For Grizzly Bear, there’s ne'er been a enactment betwixt show and personhood. What you spot onstage is what you get: 4 mean men successful plaid shirts, comfy pants and sensible shoes. Yet from their unassuming beginnings, they became improbable architects of a movement. Once synonymous with Pitchfork astatine its taste peak, Grizzly Bear embodied the infinitesimal erstwhile indie euphony crossed into the mainstream, erstwhile Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s beingness astatine their 2012 amusement could beryllium work arsenic a generational shift. They’d outgrown the Brooklyn lofts wherever they started, landing Top 10 albums, soundtracking Super Bowl commercials, opening for Radiohead, and earning the benignant of taste cachet that concisely made indie stone consciousness similar the halfway of the universe.

But astatine the tallness of success, the manner of circuit autobus toilets, edifice country pizzas and nationalist sentiment began to instrumentality its toll. “There was ne'er a ceremonial breakup,” Rossen says now, his dependable jumping astir with tense energy, aft years distant from the spotlight. “We conscionable needed to measurement back, to spot who other we were extracurricular of the band.” For years, nary of them seemed anxious to look back.

It has been 8 years since Grizzly Bear’s past album, 2017’s “Painted Ruins.” Over time, their lives softly scattered. Droste — the lone 1 who near euphony down wholly — retrained arsenic a therapist successful L.A.; Rossen retreated to Santa Fe, N.M., raised a daughter, released a woodsy solo record, and collaborated with Bear connected the Oscar-nominated movie “Past Lives”; Bear, successful turn, became a prolific movie and TV composer; Taylor turned producer. The machinery of set beingness had tally its course. “There were bully reasons wherefore we stopped,” Rossen says. “But if you person a full catalog similar that, it’s a shame to ne'er play it again.”

Everyone successful the set has their ain reply for wherefore they’ve decided to revisit Grizzly Bear. For Rossen, helium says helium “felt similar determination was capable region from it to truly commencement missing it,” his dependable opening to settle. “It was affectional to revisit immoderate of that material,” helium continues. “A bully happening astir going backmost to these songs is that I felt I’d mislaid immoderate of my affectional transportation to them. I realized however beauteous they truly were.”

The determination to reunite came particularly dilatory for the band’s frontman. “There was a portion of maine that didn’t privation to beryllium opened up to criticism,” Droste admits. “I conscionable was like, I don’t privation to constitute and merchandise thing and past beryllium tense astir reviews again.” Now, helium says, helium feels amended equipped to grip it. At the aforesaid time, Droste — moving betwixt therapy jobs — recovered himself with a uncommon opening. “The remainder of the set had asked a fewer times implicit the years,” helium says, his dependable affable and agleam contempt his archetypal hesitation astir this interview, “but it ne'er felt close until now.” Adding to the moment, Victoria Legrand of Beach House — 1 of their closest contemporaries — offered to articulation the shows. “That was the cherry connected top,” Droste says.

The members of Grizzly Bear gathered earlier this twelvemonth for 8 days successful a windowless soundstage heavy successful the Valley to rehearse. There was a teething play the archetypal mates of days arsenic they reconvened, trying to get backmost connected the aforesaid leafage that they’d near disconnected 8 years ago. Droste spent immoderate 8 oregon 9 hours a time singing. It was an aggravated reimmersion, fixed that Droste says helium doesn’t adjacent sing successful the ablution oregon astir the house. “I sing possibly doubly a year,” helium says. “I hardly perceive to euphony even.” He can’t accidental why. The band’s relationships to euphony and their ain voices person changed with age: ragged choirboys arsenic they are now, but inactive tuneful and beautiful.

After years apart, the set feels lighter and little freighted with expectation. “We’re capable to respect each other’s boundaries now,” Rossen says. “The stakes are wholly different. It allows america to beryllium much diligent with 1 another.” Droste’s enactment arsenic a therapist has besides reshaped his approach. “You can’t bash that benignant of enactment and not larn astir yourself,” helium says. “You get amended astatine knowing what works for you and what doesn’t, what’s sustainable.” He laughs softly. “It’s been great. Everyone’s getting on amended than we ever have.”

That consciousness of attraction carries into the logistics of their tour, too. In a infinitesimal erstwhile the roadworthy is much costly and precarious than ever — marked by rising costs, slimmer margins, and a frazzled post-pandemic euphony scenery — they’ve made deliberate choices to sphere the experience: forgoing a circuit bus, supra all, to guarantee that the spiritual reward of being onstage outweighs its carnal toll.

If Grizzly Bear’s aboriginal years were astir convergence — 4 young men gathering a dependable that felt some communal and claustrophobic, this section is astir calibration: uncovering equilibrium aft a agelong play apart. Their acceptable database spans their catalog but leans amazingly connected “Horn of Plenty,” those loose, bedroom-born sketches that predated immoderate consciousness of grandeur. It feels fitting.

With astir of the band’s members present approaching 50, they’re keen to recapture the consciousness of find and daring that erstwhile propelled them arsenic young men, to measurement backmost into the chartless with the aforesaid restless curiosity, erstwhile originative sparks were successful abundance.

They refound that feeling erstwhile they played their archetypal shows successful New York City, wherever it each began, successful October. Back onstage, the sensory overload was total: the roar of the crowd, the strobing lights, the sub-bass rattling done their bodies. It was a marked opposition to Rossen’s existent life, which is mostly hermetic and domestic, confined to the 4 walls of his home. But a fewer shows in, he’s started to adjust. “It’s extreme,” Rossen says, “but it’s felt astonishing to reclaim the consciousness that I tin inactive relation arsenic a musician.”

Their kids person present met each other, too. Rossen’s girl got to spot him execute for the archetypal time. “She got to recognize that I don’t conscionable marque meal oregon bent retired astatine home. I really bash thing retired determination successful the world. That was great.”

For each their readjustments, Grizzly Bear remains an emblem of what indie stone erstwhile promised: that a radical of thoughtful radical could physique thing meaningful together, without needing to distort themselves to acceptable the market. Grizzly Bear whitethorn not person outlasted that era, but they’ve learned to travel backmost from it connected their ain terms: arsenic 4 regular dudes susceptible of creating large works of beauty, and finally, astatine agelong last, astatine easiness with the sound.

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