Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear, whose 2009 album, “Veckatimest” topped many best-of lists, will head back into the studio early next year, according to the Brooklyn-based band’s frontman Ed Droste.

“We’ll start writing after Christmas,” Droste tells Hitfix. “We just finished our last show in October. We thought maybe we can pretend we’re not in a band for three months and hopefully not be in a bus or a plane.”

With that mission almost accomplished, Droste says he and his Bear mates — guitarist Daniel Rossen, bassist Chris Taylor, and drummer Christopher Bear — will “start dipping our toes into a writing process and see where that takes us. We want everything to just happen.”

Asked if there are already topics that he’s contemplating writing about for the fourth full length album —much of “Veckatimest” dealt with a crumbling relationship —Droste says the plan is to go with the flow, but fans shouldn’t expect a major change. “We’re really not like theme album people,” he says. “It’s not going to be some overarching political message. It’s going to be songs of the heart. That’s what we do.” 

No word on when the album may come out, but Droste issues a gentle reminder: "It takes a long time for us to write music."

In the meantime, listen for Grizzly Bear in the new movie “Blue Valentine,” opening in select cities Dec. 31. The romantic drama, which stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, uses Grizzly Bear’s catalog as its score. Director Derek Cianfrance asked the band to score the movie, but after production was delayed, Grizzly Bear had to back out due to promotion and touring for “Veckatimest.” However, they allowed Cianfrance full access to its music, including instrumental tracks.