Grizzly Bear - Shields: Expanded - Rock - CD

SHIELDS: EXPANDED is a deluxe edition of Grizzly Bear's most recent, critically acclaimed release, containing the full SHIELDS record on one disc, plus an extra disc with eight b-sides, remixes and demos (including early session tracks recorded in Marfa, TX, the Nicolas Jaar RSD remix of "Sleeping Ute," and more).

Grizzly Bear were gone for a few years after Veckatimest, but the amount of extracurricular projects they tackled during that time -- Chris Taylor's work with CANT, Daniel Rossen's solo EP Silent Hour/Golden Mile, and the band's reconfiguring of their own songs into the Blue Valentine soundtrack -- means they never really went away. Shields isn't exactly a dramatic return then, which is somehow fitting considering that this is some of the band's most cerebral music. There's nothing here with quite the instant appeal of "Two Weeks" or the aching vulnerability of "Foreground"; instead, most of these songs lie between those two poles. Yet Shields is full of remarkably active music, starting with "Sleeping Ute," where acoustic guitars that sound more like they're being scrubbed than strummed tumble into bubbling synths, which then give way to rhythms that conjure leaves twirling in the breeze. "Speak in Rounds" may be the most rocking song they've done yet, even if it climaxes with rustling brass and flutes instead of a shredding guitar solo. As dazzling as these flourishes can be, sometimes the complexity of Shields' arrangements threatens to overshadow the actual songs, and the most direct moments are among the album's best. "Yet Again" shows once again how good Grizzly Bear are at putting their abstract leanings into their version of a pop single: the guitars ring out with inevitability, the harmonies propel the song to new heights, and everything gets gloriously noisy before it fades away. The bouncy "A Simple Answer" and sleek "Gun-Shy" follow suit, but what makes them and the rest of Shields intriguing is the tension between the music's brash dynamics, and words and feelings that often turn inward. The band's lyrics are more cryptic and coded than ever, and the snippets that listeners get, such as "Cloistered from yourself/You never even try," from "What's Wrong," are abstractions of relationships that feel like extreme close-ups or bird's-eye views. These mysteries don't detract from the pure melodic beauty of songs like "Half-Gate," though, and the way that the album travels from its stormy beginnings to the serenity of "Sun in Your Eyes" means it can be called a song cycle without shame or snickering. While it's not as obviously big a statement as Veckatimest was, Shields is plenty ambitious in its own right, and its complexity demands and rewards patient listening. [A two-disc, 18-track expanded edition was also released, featuring demos as well as remixes by Lindstrom, Nicolas Jaar and Liars.] ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

Performer	Grizzly Bear
Music genre	Rock
Music subgenre	Indie/Alternative
Music release type	Album
Media format	CD
Original release date	2013
Language	English
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	2
Series title	Shields
Track listing	Sleeping Ute, Speak in Rounds, Adelma, Yet Again, The Hunt, A Simple Answer, What's Wrong, Gun-Shy, Half Gate, Sun in Your Eyes, Smothering Green (Bonus Track), Taken Down (Marfa Demo), Listen and Wait (Bonus Track), Everyone I Know (Marfa Demo), Will Calls (Marfa Demo), Sleeping Ute (Nicolas Jaar Remix), A Simple Answer (Liars Remix), Gun-Shy (Lindstrom Remix)
Record label	Warp Records
Track name	Sleeping Ute, Speak In Rounds, Adelma, Yet Again, The Hunt, A Simple Answer, What's Wrong, Gun-Shy, Half Gate, Sun In Your Eyes, Smothering Green, Taken Down (Marfa Demo), Listen And Wait, Everyone I Know (Marfa Demo), Will Calls (Marfa Demo), Sleeping Ute (Nicolas Jaar Remix), A Simple Answer (Liars Remix), Gun-Shy (Lindstrom Remix)
Digital audio file format	CD
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N