Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
Daniel Rossen's work with
Grizzly Bear,
Department of Eagles, and as a solo artist reflects his genre-blurring sound and unmistakable, vibrato-heavy voice. His mix of folk, psych-pop, jazz, and classical influences sounded as striking on
Grizzly Bear's lauded albums -- which spanned 2006's breakthrough
Yellow House to 2017's
Painted Ruins -- as it did on
Department of Eagles' heartfelt 2007 album
In Ear Park. On his own,
Rossen revealed new levels to his artistry. With 2012's
Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP, he made music that was as personal as it was technically proficient, and followed his heart on the dazzling meditations of 2022's full-length
You Belong There.
Born in Los Angeles in 1982,
Rossen started making music in earnest in 2000, when he became a roommate of
Fred Nicolaus at New York University during their freshman year. The duo began writing and recording as Whitey on the Moon UK, ultimately changing their name to
Department of Eagles a few years and EPs later. In 2004,
Rossen joined
Grizzly Bear as the band's second singer/songwriter after the release of their debut album
Horn of Plenty;
Rossen was the roommate of bassist/producer Chris Taylor and knew their drummer, Chris Bear, from their years together in jazz camp.
For the next few years, Rossen juggled these projects. In 2005, a collection of
Department of Eagles' early works, The Cold Nose, was issued by the U.K. label
Melodic (it arrived in the U.S. with bonus tracks two years later). He made his recording debut with
Grizzly Bear on September 2006's
Yellow House, which set
Droste's and
Rossen's songs to a tapestry of multi-layered harmonies, guitars, woodwinds, and electronics, while
Department of Eagles issued the odds-and-ends EP A Johnny Glaze Christmas: Classical Snatches and Samples a Go-Go.
Rossen and
Nicolaus continued to work on tracks, gathering enough material for an album by late 2007.
Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor and
Christopher Bear, as well as bassist
Nat Baldwin, joined
Rossen and
Nicolaus for the sessions; the resulting album,
In Ear Park, was a set of elegantly eccentric pop inspired by
Rossen's late father and released by 4AD in October 2008. That year,
Grizzly Bear toured with
Radiohead and began work on May 2009's
Veckatimest. Featuring clearer melodies and song structures alongside collaborations with contemporary classical composer/conductor
Nico Muhly,
Beach House vocalist
Victoria Legrand, the Acme String Quartet, and
the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, the album was a Top Ten hit in the U.S. and was ultimately certified gold in Europe. July 2010 saw the arrival of the
Department of Eagles collection
Archive 2003-2006, which included tracks from their scrapped sophomore album and pieces that were later used by
Grizzly Bear.
When the
Veckatimest tour ended,
Rossen began work on a set of songs intended for a new
Grizzly Bear album, but he ended up recording them largely by himself, recruiting horn arrangements from
Ian Davis and Kris Nolte, lap steel player
Scott Hirsch, and
Dr. Dog drummer
Eric Slick for help on selected tracks. The result was the
Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP, which Warp released early in 2012. That September,
Grizzly Bear issued their fourth full-length
Shields, which boasted a direct yet intricate sound that emphasized the interplay between the band's members. Following the tour for that album, the members of the band once again went their separate ways.
Rossen moved to upstate New York, worked on his own music and went on tour, performing songs from
Silent Hour/Golden Mile and
Department of Eagles. In 2016, he collaborated on a cover of "Terrapin Station (Suite)" with
the National for
the Grateful Dead tribute album Day of the Dead.
Grizzly Bear reconvened to make August 2017's
Painted Ruins, which paired wide-ranging lyrics with expansive arrangements in playful, rhythmically driven songs. During the band's subsequent hiatus,
Droste confirmed that he left
Grizzly Bear to become a therapist. During this time,
Rossen issued the 2018 single Deerslayer, relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico and, along with
Christopher Bear, collaborated with
Fleet Foxes on their 2020 album
Shore.
Bear also provided drums on
Rossen's debut solo album, April 2022's
You Belong There, a kaleidoscopic set of songs that featured strings and clarinet -- as well as all other instruments besides drums -- played by
Rossen. ~ Heather Phares