When you’re a young artist or group it’s sometimes surprising how much growth can occur in a short time, if you’re creatively ambitious and willing to explore new paths — and new ways of working.

The guys in the modern-art-rock band Grizzly Bear — who come to the Michigan Theater on Saturday, Sept. 26 for a show presented by the University Musical Society — are a good example. The music on the group’s latest disc, “Veckatimest,” represents a new direction and big step forward for the band, relative to the sounds on its previous release, “Yellow House,” from 2006.

That’s partly due to where and how the current album was recorded. Some of the tracks were cut in a historic but weathered Brooklyn church, with peeling paint and an old pipe organ. The group often rehearsed the songs there, sometimes working all night long. Other tracks were recorded in Cape Cod, where singer-songwriter Ed Droste’s family has a home.

“The locations made a big difference for us,” Droste recently told Spin magazine. “’Yellow House’ was all made in one spot in a sweaty blur,” which Droste said accounts for the music on that disc being more static and monochromatic. “But ‘Veckatimest’ was recorded all over the place” — which is why, he says, that the music on the latter is more dynamic and ambitious.

“I think the lyrics are more suggestive without being explicit, That’s a big step forward for us.”

And about the music. It’s brimming with orchestral flourishes, and in some cases, robust vocal-choir accompaniments. The arrangements are definitely more complex than in the past, with shifting time signatures, psychedelic organ passages, subtly rolling drums, seductive pop hooks and vocal tracks that sometimes sound almost spectral.

Listen to Grizzly Bear's "Cheerleader" (MP3).

The church where many of the tracks were created and recorded definitely has a “ghostly presence,” according to Chris Taylor, the group’s bassist, producer, backup singer and the member who plays the biggest role when it comes to crafting the band’s overall sound in the studio. That’s what he told Rolling Stone this summer. Droste added that the church is “a heat box in the summer, freezing in the winter — but it’s great for singing.”

The buzz surrounding “Veckatimest” began even before it was released in May, with Rolling Stone magazine laying early odds that it would be “2009’s most gushed-over art-rock record.” The buzz continued after the disc debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard album chart, and when high-profile artists as diverse as Paul Simon and Radiohead proclaimed themselves fans. Radiohead even invited Grizzly Bear to open for them for their summer tour.

“When I heard that, I did a little jig,” Droste confessed to Rolling Stone. “I was surprised how friendly they were. They actually hung out with us.”

Although singer/songwriter guitarist Daniel Rossen jokes that “Veckatimest” is named after a Spanish prostitute, it’s actually the name of a wild, uninhabited, 16-acre island near Droste’s family’s place in Cape Cod. The group reportedly chose the name because the island has an elusive quality — a quality they want to convey with their new music and in their public image. And the brand of art rock created by Grizzly Bear on “Veckatimest” is indeed hard to pin down.

The opening track, “Southern Point,” starts off as jazzy, supple and subtly melodic, then morphs into something more percussive and assertive, with evocative strings providing counterpoint to Droste’s yearning vocals. “Two Weeks” is constructed around a plunky piano line and a jagged, lurching groove, with Droste’s vocals alternately conjuring early Bryan Ferry and David Byrne.

Watch the video for "Two Weeks":

On “Fine For Now” the shimmery, multi-tracked vocal arrangements float atop reverbed guitars. “Ready Able,” meanwhile, is one of those songs that that is marked by tricky tempo shifts — a stock-in-trade requirement for any art-rock band.

Given the musical ambitiousness of “Veckatimest,” it’s not surprising that the band members enjoy performing with orchestras — they’ve collaborated with both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Philharmonics.

And the tale of the band’s formative years doesn’t fit the standard indie-rock “origin story” that typically begins with a bunch of teens feverishly strangling their Stratocasters and pulverizing their Les Pauls in the garage. Droste says he wrote his first song in his bedroom, just over five years ago. He’d gone through a difficult break-up, and in search of catharsis, wrote some songs, put them on a CD and handed them out go a few friends, thinking that would be the end of it.

But one friend gave a copy to Christopher Bear, now Grizzly Bear’s drummer, who in turn played it for bassist/producer Taylor. They tracked down Droste — whose grandfather, by the way, was a Beethoven scholar at Harvard — and together, they did a bit of re-mixing and post-production. The result was Grizzly Bear’s ’04 debut, “Horn of Plenty.”

And Droste isn’t the only band member who has a creative heavyweight in his family tree. Guitarist Drossen’s grandfather was a prominent film director, with iconic films like “The Hustler” (with Paul Newman) and the original version of “All the King’s Men” to his credit.

The band members all agree that “Veckatimest” was, creatively, a big step forward from the first two albums.

In fact, Droste says it’s hard for him to even listen to “Yellow House” now. “On that record, we were in a transitional period,” he told Rolling Stone. “I think we learned how to edit ourselves on this album. But I still hope that on the 20th or 30th listen, you’ll discover something new.”

PREVIEW
Grizzly Bear
Who: Band whose current album has been causing a buzz on the indie-rock scene since before its May release. Opening artists Beach House.
What: Ambitious art-rock, with orchestral flourishes, shifting tempos and ethereal vocals.
Where: Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St.
When: Saturday, Sept. 26, 8 p.m.
How much: $18-$42.
Details: 734-764-2538 or UMS web site.

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer and critic who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.