Daniel Rossen

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