You Belong There

Daniel Rossen, the lead vocalist and instrumentalist of era-epitomizing act Grizzly Bear, releases his first-ever solo LP, You Belong There, via Warp Records.

The landscape surrounding You Belong There is Daniel Rossen’s sophisticated and visceral consideration of what comes after the restless enthusiasm and public fanfare of your youth. It’s a riveting 10-song reintroduction to a voice that sounds both entirely familiar and fully re-energized by the act of unfettered expression and newfound self-sovereignty. These songs explore the personally uncharted territory of adulthood, including the troubles left behind and the possibilities that wait ahead.

For nearly two decades, Rossen had been a crucial component of Grizzly Bear, whose shared harmonies and interlaced textures reimagined music of the early aughts. He is also a founding member of the acclaimed folk and electronica outfit Department of Eagles. Rossen left the close-knit nest of Brooklyn many years ago, first for an isolated patch of land in upstate New York and then for Santa Fe, where he slowly built the world that is You Belong There largely in his high desert home. Rossen bought himself an upright bass (one of his instruments as a kid), along with the cello and performed almost all of the parts on the album himself, with Chris Bear of Grizzly Bear contributing as a rare guest on “Tangle.” Best known as a guitarist, Rossen took up woodwinds, too, buying several cheap student models and learning just enough to understand the rudiments.