Grizzly Bear – Shields

It’d be a tough ask for Grizzly Bear’s latest to match the meticulous, swooning highs of 2009’sVeckatimest, but it certainly has its moments. Though it lacks the initial stand-out singles of their previous record, album number four is perhaps a more consistent cursory listening experience, whilst eking out new highlights with each subsequent spin.

Though the Brooklyn-based quartet only occasionally break out of a mid-tempo pace, Shields is certainly marked as a more propulsive listen whilst feeling a little looser and rawer in production. Highlights such as Yet Again and Half Gate embody this well, whilst the more languid moments, reminiscent of breakthrough Yellow House, are kept in check; an end coda here, a short, droning instrumental there.

Shields might not quite leave the mark you may have been expecting once the dust settles, but unlike their previous albums’ predilection with time and place, it’s the journey rather than the destination that matters.