Shields' highlight, however, is Sun in Your Eyes, a poised masterpiece in which every note seems carefully calculated to play a role in its repeated, explosive transformation from sparse piano ballad to jubilant anthem. Elsewhere, Half Gate builds from dreamy, nostalgic verses into a stormy racket of a chorus. Gun-Shy, meanwhile, is distinguished by intricate arrangements - twinkling guitar lines, keyboards that hint at Supertramp, vocals that sigh like a gentle breeze. But on What's Wrong, Mellotron and restrained string arrangements drift amidst choral vocals and cymbal splashes before reaching a jazzy, serene finale. Yet Again - its melody nonchalantly addictive, its bridge a loving nod to the sparkle of 80s synth pop, its climax noisily retro-futuristic - and the galloping A Simple Answer - a winning combination of Beach Boys harmonies and Glitter Band stomp - provide the collection's immediate thrills. Though Shields consequently makes for a frustrating listen at first, it slowly reveals a band confounding expectations with a rare imagination. But the quartet has refused to sacrifice any of the complexity that provided such rich rewards for repeated listens of their previous outings. Not that they've lost any of their sensitivity: the track concludes with a pastoral coda that's as lovely as the music preceding it was lively.
With opening track Sleeping Ute's initially perplexing time signature and the subsequent psychedelic noises that tear from the speaker to speaker, it's clear success hasn't mellowed Grizzly Bear.
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