Pitchfork

When Grizzly Bear released their much-loved 2006 LP Yellow House, maybe the world wasn't quite ready for their specific kind of fractured fragility. But since that time, Fleet Foxes have taken a variation on their churchy close-harmony prettiness steez to mainstream, sonic brethren Animal Collective are in the Top 20, and Grizzly Bear themselves have gotten to the point where they can premier unreleased tracks on late night talk shows. They are teetering on the precipice of something huge with this next album of theirs.

And now, as Stereogum reports and Grizzly Bear's publicist confirms, that album has a title: Veckatimest. (It's named after one of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. No, nobody expected you to know that.)

The album doesn't have a specific release date yet, but it's due in May. As we reported last year, band member Chris Taylor served as producer on Veckatimest, and frontman Ed Droste claimed that they're shooting for more of a "live sound." We're not entirely sure what that might mean, but it somehow involves recording with a children's choir, as well your favorite band's favorite neoclassical composer Nico Muhly and, possibly, forever-sleepy Beach House singer Victoria Legrand. A few songs the band has been playing out lately are expected to appear on the album: "Two Weeks", "While You Wait for the Others", and "Fine for Now".

The band hasn't announced any immediate tour plans, but they do have a few gigs coming up. The biggest one is probably their sold out jam with the Brooklyn Philharmonic (and with arrangements from Muhly) at BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House on February 28. And on February 14, they'll play a New Yorker-sponsored show at Galapagos in Brooklyn. They're also set to play Bonnaroo on June 11, and they'll be on hand at the SXSW hype fest in March.

And Ed Droste's entertaining, frequently updated Twitter can be found here.