Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins

Grizzly Bear
Painted Ruins
2017
Spotify

Grizzly Bear have often been a band who are tough to pin down. At times they are folksy and light while at others they blend in prog-rock elements giving the music a whole new dimension. They feel much more like the evolution indie and folk should have taken rather than the new Arcade Fire. "Mourning Sound" the first single from the record has this incredible bridge, soaked in electronics but backed by a pretty hollow snare the song just blooms into this beautiful sound. The whole album is so haunting with Ed Droste's far away vocals and intensity. Painted Ruins is full of depth and the ability of the band members is pretty incredible. Every note is so tight, every sound is so dialed in, these are clearly people who have honed their craft to a razors edge, the just happen to be highly artistic as well. Droste's words are so poetic and drenched in meaning even if they don't appear so immediately. He paints these really murky pictures that you have to almost squint at to understand, but it allows you to really sink in to the record. "Losing All Sense" is the psychedelic rock song of the record; it abandons most of the electronics and the band sort of sink into this 60s groove punctuated with these deep dives into muddy distortion. It is just really great stuff that is so unlike the rest of what we are hearing today. It is like Grizzly Bear took a page out of Tame Impala's book for this record, taking really classic sounds that have somewhat been lost and upgrading them for today. It shows that rock still has a seat at the table, and if you make it right it really can shine.

There is a very distinct lack of build and crescendo on this album which is actually quite nice. Instead of working towards something the songs on Painted Ruins Grizzly Bear start with great musical depth and go from there. Indie seemed so focused on these really anthemic choruses for so long that it became a bit of a gimmick, leaving that behind feels comfortable and more rich. There are times like on "Neighbors" where Grizzly Bear can sound a bit to much like Bright Light Social Hour and descend into these extended periods that just feel like jamming. The songs which feature more electronics are the ones that seem to land a bit harder, but the album as a whole floats along in this really magical way. There is just so much to explore with this album that each time you listen you feel like you are experiencing something new. Even though it does slow in the end, Painted Ruins is a super solid album with hypnotising instrumentation. Definitely give this one a spin.

8.2 out of 10