These days, everything's coming up Grizzly Bear. On Sunday, Jay-Z and Beyoncé went to the band's show in Brooklyn, and as we reported yesterday, Jay had some nice things to say about the band and the "indie rock movement" in general.
The other big piece of Grizzly Bear news yesterday was that the magnificently bearded white soul belter (and noted Paul Rudd nemesis) Michael McDonald had sung lead on a new version of the band's song "While You Wait for the Others". The former Doobie Brother's version is on the flip of the band's new single. You can cop it right now from iTunes or pre-order the 7" from the band's website.
Paste caught up with McDonald, who detailed how this left-field collaboration came to pass.
Apparently, McDonald, who calls himself "a big fan of the band", hit up a New York Grizzly Bear show (just like Jay!), where mutual friend and Chairlift manager Molly Hawkins introduced him to the band. Pretty soon afterward, someone approached McDonald about singing the song, and he was all about it. McDonald had first added some backing vocals to the track, but the band liked his work so much that they asked him to sing lead.
McDonald also echoed Jay-Z's "what the indie rock movement is doing right now is very inspiring" angle. He hears a musical bond between the Grizz's intricately filigreed chamber pop and his own past work: "When I was with the Doobies, the style of music was that we all went over the falls with chord progressions, trying to make things as complex and interconnected as possible. The punk movement swung towards being as primitive as possible, but now it's back to where these guys are good musicians. I never thought that would come back around, but it has."
