Photo: Courtesy of Grizzly Bear
One of our favorite albums last year was Grizzly Bear's fantastic fourth LP, Shields. With ambitious production, knotty guitars, and gorgeous harmonies, the album showed once again that the indie quartet only continue to improve as the years pass. Now, a year after the LP's release, Grizzly Bear are dropping a new version of the record with tons of bonus material, aptly-titled Shields: Expanded. (You can also download the extra tracks or grab them as a separate 12″ EP.)
Among the b-sides included in the new package is a previously unheard song titled "Will Calls (Marfa Demo)," which would have been among our favorite tracks on the album, had the band chosen to include it. Though the version included in the new release is only a demo recorded in — you guessed it — Marfa, Texas, it manages to come across as fully realized as anything on the album. (In fact, the low-fi approach adds a pleasant edge.) At nearly seven minutes, it takes its time to unfurl, but when it does it's a thing of beauty.