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Grizzly Bear Has Come to Reclaim Its Indie-Rock Throne With New Song, ‘Three Rings’

They’re back. Photo: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Over the last four years, when Ed Droste wasn’t busy inciting feuds with Taylor Swift and her fans, he was still the front man of Grizzly Bear. But you’d be forgiven for forgetting that small fact, as the band hasn’t had much output since 2012’s Shields, back when Vulture declared them “indie-rock royalty.†Today, they’re back to reclaim the throne: Grizzly Bear has released its first new song in over four years (after spending a month teasing it with cryptic videos) called “Three Rings.†In 2015, Droste tried to make sense of Grizzly Bear’s long absence, attributing it both to his divorce (he wasn’t in the headspace to write songs) and the band having to recalibrate since its members now lived on opposite coasts. But he called the music they were coming up with “more adventurous with the sonic directions.†On “Three Rings,†it shows. The song isn’t as chirpy or reliant on riffs as some of their older stuff, but it still follows the same hypnotic, expansive sonic pattern that makes it a moment. You’ll probably hear it in a commercial soon, unless the band has wised up.

Hear Grizzly Bear’s New Song, ‘Three Rings’