Home-recorded songs can feel incomplete whilst being as tantalizingly indicative as the sketches before a painting. The outlines, though interesting in their own respect, are not as satisfying as the finished version. Grizzly Bear, however, have approached song writing as a craft to master from their very first album, Horn of Plenty onwards. Enamored by how a song "reads", they were fully present from prologue to denouement even though singer/songwriter Edward Droste recorded them by himself in his Brooklyn bedroom. Fuelled by a bout of post-relationship inspiration, those first songs celebrated the creative liberation of the ProTools era. They explored the depths of break-ups through crystal-clear tones, field sounds and woozy, complex harmonies.
Droste has now gathered a band: Christopher Bear (name entirely coincidental) played drums and helped polish Horn of Plenty in its final stages; Chris Taylor soon followed the duo post HOP release and was responsible for electronics, woodwinds, bass, and vocals; Daniel Rossen sang, played guitar and contributed new songs. The line-up was complete, and as a newly established four piece, they began musical exploration. The music was sweet, and the instrumentation and live show grew in ambition. The songs were remixed by figureheads at the forefront of the electronic music scene: Efterklang, Dntel and Soft Pink Truth.
The new material that comprises Yellow House puts the band at the vanguard of contemporary song writing. The album was self-recorded during an idyllic summer. The makeshift studio was provided by Droste's mom's living room in a yellow house just off Cape Cod.
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