Painted Ruins Explained

Painted Ruins
Type:	studio
Artist:	Grizzly Bear
Cover:	Grizzly-bear-paintedruins-cover.jpg
Studio:	Allaire, Shokan, New York Terrible, Los Angeles, California^[1]
Length:	48:28
Label:	RCA
Producer:	Chris Taylor
Prev Title:	Shields
Prev Year:	2012

Painted Ruins is the fifth studio album by American rock band Grizzly Bear, released on August 18, 2017, by RCA Records. Along with the announcement of the album, the band announced a fall European and North American tour.^[2]

Recording

Grizzly Bear spent two years writing and recording for the album. Band member Chris Taylor produced Painted Ruins, with recording sessions occurring primarily at Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York, but also at various locations around Los Angeles, including Taylor's own Terrible Studios.

Release

Prior to the release of the first single from the album, the band uploaded a series of mysterious teaser videos to their YouTube account.^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

On May 4, 2017, the first single from the album, "Three Rings", was released.^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} The song was officially released at midnight in each successive time zone across the globe,^{[11] [12]} and was later uploaded to their YouTube channel.^[13]

On May 17, Grizzly Bear revealed the name and release date of the upcoming album,^[14] and also announced their first tour in four years, beginning in Dublin, Ireland on October 5, and continuing through the end of the year, with concerts in Europe and North America.^[15] Later that same day, Grizzly Bear released the second single from the album, "Mourning Sound".^{[16] [17]}

On June 23, the band released the third track from the record, "Four Cypresses".^{[18] [19]}

On July 21, the band released the fourth single from the record, "Neighbors".^{[20] [21]}

Critical reception

Painted Ruins has received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 82 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 29 reviews.

Laura Snapes in The Observer described the album as "Unbeholden to the band’s existence, Painted Ruins has a cavalier quality that you’d struggle to spot in its tense forebears".

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank
Uncut	75 best Albums of the Year	2017
Rolling Stone	50 Best Albums of 2017	2017
Earbuddy	Top 50 Albums of 2017	2017
Drowned in Sound	Favourite Albums of 2017	2017

Personnel

Credits:

• Christopher Bear – drums, percussion, synths, vocals, drum programming, wurlitzer, pedal steel
• Edward Droste – vocals
• Daniel Rossen – vocals, guitars, piano, synths, organ, cello
• Chris Taylor – vocals, bass, saxophones, clarinet, flute, bass harmonica, synths, drum programming

Notes and References

1. Web site: Grizzly Bear To Release New Album "Painted Ruins" August 18; Global Headlining Tour Begins October 5 . RCA Records . June 8, 2017.
2. Web site: Grizzly Bear Announce New Album Painted Ruins . Pitchfork . May 17, 2017 . June 8, 2017 . Minsker, Evan and Monroe, Jazz.
3. Web site: Grizzly Bear Tease New Music: Listen . Pitchfork . April 4, 2017 . June 8, 2017 . Lozano, Kevin and Monroe, Jazz.
4. Web site: Grizzly Bear Tease More New Music With Mysterious Video: Watch . Pitchfork . April 10, 2017 . June 8, 2017 . Yoo, Noah.
5. Web site: Grizzly Bear Share Another New Clip of New Music: Watch . Pitchfork . April 16, 2017 . June 8, 2017 . Kim, Michelle.
6. Web site: Three Rings playlist . YouTube . June 23, 2017 . Grizzly Bear.
7. Web site: Grizzly Bear Release New Song "Three Rings" . Pitchfork . May 4, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Strauss, Matthew.
8. Web site: Listen to Grizzly Bear's New Song "Three Rings" . Pitchfork . May 5, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Strauss, Matthew.
9. Hear Grizzly Bear's Spellbinding New Song 'Three Rings' . Rolling Stone . May 5, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Blistein, Jon.
10. Web site: Grizzly Bear – "Three Rings" . Stereogum . May 4, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Rettig, James.
11. Web site: Grizzly Bear Twitter 1 . Twitter . May 4, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Grizzly Bear.
12. Web site: Grizzly Bear Twitter 2 . Twitter . May 4, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Grizzly Bear.
13. Web site: Grizzly Bear - Three Rings . YouTube . May 5, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . GrizzlyBearVEVO.
14. Web site: Grizzly Bear Announce New Album Painted Ruins . Pitchfork . May 17, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Minsker, Evan and Monroe, Jazz.
15. Web site: Grizzly Bear Announce First Tour in 4 Years . Pitchfork . May 17, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Wicks, Amanda.
16. Web site: Grizzly Bear - Mourning Sound (Audio) . YouTube . May 17, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . GrizzlyBearVEVO.
17. Web site: Listen to Grizzly Bear's New Song "Mourning Sound" . Pitchfork . May 17, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Phillips, Amy.
18. Web site: Grizzly Bear - Four Cypresses (Lyric Video) . YouTube . June 23, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . GrizzlyBearVEVO.
19. Web site: Listen to Grizzly Bear's New Song "Four Cypresses" . Pitchfork . June 23, 2017 . June 23, 2017 . Kim, Michelle.
20. Web site: GrizzlyBearVEVO. Grizzly Bear - Neighbors (Official Video). . July 21, 2017. July 21, 2017.
21. Web site: Watch Grizzly Bear's Video for New Song "Neighbors" Pitchfork. pitchfork.com. 21 July 2017 . July 21, 2017.