“Three Rings”

Grizzly Bear has never downplayed how complicated their music is. Each of their albums has been markedly denser and showier than the last, demanding more of both the listener and band alike. “Three Rings,” the group’s first new song since 2012, briefly teases the possibility that they might have broken that pattern. A blunt introductory drumbeat and gnarly bassline imagines a leaner, meaner Grizzly Bear, one that’s ready to rip off the white gloves and get its hands dirty—a band prepared to live up to its name. The suggestion is only fleeting, though. Moments later, the compositional acrobatics begin.

Even for a Grizzly Bear song, “Three Rings” is a lot to unpack. Its sequence of starts and reversals, intricate symphonics, and untidy free jazz fit together like a Rube Goldberg machine. Only after three minutes of circuitous mood setting does the song hits its emotional core, finally revealing itself for what it is: a plea to a waffling lover. “Don’t you know that I could make it better?” Ed Droste sings, his voice flush with desperation, “Don’t you ever leave me.” A more direct songwriter would have put that sentiment front and center, and it’s never clear whether all the song’s sonic gymnastics are meant to underscore his point or delay it. At the end, at least, all the song’s disconnected ideas seem to resolve themselves in one final sweep. The closure couldn’t feel any more hard-earned. Despite its long journey, credit the band this: they know how to land a track.