Grizzly Bear's third full-length is one of the best albums you'll hear all year! With a little bit assistance from composer Nico Muhly and Beach House's Victoria Legrand, who can be heard harmonizing on the sun-kissed baroque pop of "Two Weeks," the highly textured art/folk/pop of Veckatimest is another a giant, creative leap forward for the band.

The impossibly titled new album from Brooklyn's Grizzly Bear is the most heavily anticipated new release that we've seen in some time, and there is little doubt that 2009 will be the year of the 'Bear. (If you Google the name, the band comes up several times in the search before the actual bears do!) And while popularity is no sign of quality -- if it were, you wouldn't need Other Music, right? -- it's got to make you a little bit curious. These guys have definitely upped the ante on their third proper album, but really it's a continuation of the refinement in sound they pursued from the hazy homemade druggie drone of 2004's Horn of Plenty to the crisper dreaminess of their 2006 breakthrough, Yellow House. On Veckatimest, the band have followed this progression to its logical conclusion, meticulously crafting a crystalline folk-pop album that is rich with complex harmonies, soaring orchestration (courtesy of NYC avant-classical wunderkind Nico Muhly), and a clarity of vision that few indie groups could ever muster.

There is a jazzy swing to some tracks, and no doubt there are many unexpected twists and turns in both the arrangements and the melodies that sometimes approach an almost folk-prog complexity; nonetheless, the album feels as if it were assembled piece-by-piece, moment-by-moment, turned over and examined at every angle and then shined to a high gloss. Not to imply that is has an artificial sheen, quite to the contrary; Veckatimest is a wonderfully natural sounding record, relishing in acoustic instruments and breathy room ambience, but you can rest assured that no Bears are running wild in these parts. It was mixed by Garreth Jones, a world-class producer who has worked on classic albums from the likes of Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Erasure, Wire, and Einstürzende Neubauten, and more recently groups like Interpol, Goldfrapp and Liars, and he managed to make this layered, complex recording sound effortless and light as air, with every subtle nuance nestled in its proper place.

The reference points for GB mock 2009 are hard to pinpoint; once tarred as Animal Collective wannabe's, these guys share a harmonic joy with that band, but not much else. The scope of the album, as well as the clear-eyed vocals and lush harmonies bring them closer to Steely Dan or the High Llamas, but Grizzly Bear's songwriting is a bit darker and more esoteric than either of those groups' pop perfection. And what about those songs? Well, suffice it to say that they have refined those as well, and deliver several of their finest moments yet, not just on the beautiful bounce of the debut single, "Two Weeks." Many of the lyrics seem to struggle with interpersonal dynamic, chronicling the ongoing push and pull of intimates, and the emotions here are delivered in a whisper, not a scream. The hubbub around these guys of late is noise enough, and they don't need to raise their voices to be heard.

-Josh Madell (May 28, 2009)