Veckatimest

Product Description

There is an unbelievable clarity of sound and vision to Veckatimest: vocals (a duty shared by all band members) are sharper and more complex, arrangements are tighter, production is more venturous and lyrics more affecting. Having opened the creative dialogue at such an early stage, Grizzly Bear was able to realize these 12 songs together as a band, making it their most collaboratively compositional album to date.

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Grizzly Bear’s third album is a modern masterpiece of chamber-pop music, comprised of lush, smooth songs that beautifully evoke the New England seaside where it was recorded. On the sublime “Cheerleader,” drums patter and guitars gently reverberate as frontman Ed Droste muses, “Maybe this time we’ll grow.” That much is true--as spectacular as was the group’s previous effort, Yellow House, the songs of Veckatimest flow together much more exquisitely, a gulf stream of intricate arrangements and lyrical harmonies. While the terrific singles have justifiably received much attention--“Two Weeks” begins with a plinking piano intro before dropping into the sweetly swooning melody; the guitar and vocals of “While You Wait for the Others” start and stutter before launching into the dazzling chorus--it’s the slow-burning songs like “All We Ask” and “Ready, Able,” shimmering with madrigal-esque vocal rounds, that lend the record a certain eminence. The album ends on such an august note; “Foreground" is one of the best closing tracks in recent memory. As the piano quietly cantillates, Droste sings, “Something about this might / Take all evening.” It’s a song of twilight, a farewell bid to the burst of summer and light that is Veckatimest. --Erin K. Thompson