Shields is the fourth studio album by American rock band Grizzly Bear, released on September 18, 2012, by Warp Records. Written and recorded following a six-month hiatus from band activities, the album was produced by bassist and multi-instrumentalist Chris Taylor. Preceded by the singles, "Sleeping Ute" and "Yet Again", an expanded version of Shields, entitled Shields Expanded, was released on November 12, 2013, featuring additional tracks recorded during the sessions, demo recordings and remixes. The eight additional tracks were issued as a separate mini-album, entitled Shields: B-Sides.

Shields has been described as the band's most collaborative album, with vocalist and guitarist Daniel Rossen noting, "[The band's aim was to] write and make music that is as collaborative as possible, so that we have a product that we all feel a sense of authorship over as a collective."

The album received acclaim upon release. Shields reached number seven on the Billboard 200 and number seventeen on the UK Albums Chart.

After extensive touring in support of the band's third studio album, Veckatimest (2009), Grizzly Bear undertook a six-month hiatus from band-related activities. Vocalist Ed Droste noted, "There was such a level of exhaustion that I really needed to pretend I wasn't in the band for a little bit. I needed to be back in my life with my friends and my spouse, and live a day-to-day existence that had nothing to do with music. That was really good for everybody." Vocalist and guitarist Daniel Rossen stated, "Those were strange times. [...] I felt a little bit shell-shocked by the touring experience of Veckatimest and part of me was just wondering if there was some other version of a life that I could have that wasn't as heavily involved in the music industry."

During the break, bass guitarist and producer Chris Taylor released a solo album, Dreams Come True (2011), under the pseudonym CANT, stating, "I can't just take a break. For whatever reason, I'm the kind of person who needs to constantly to work on stuff. When we finished touring, I didn't want to take some time off, I just wanted to go into the studio. But, I really didn't want to book myself in with a band and go record them, so I decided I'd try and make my own record." Daniel Rossen recorded and released a solo EP, Silent Hour/Golden Mile (2012), featuring tracks initially intended for Shields.

Regarding the band's eventual return, Ed Droste noted, "Coming back together to try to write and record was like being in junior high again – after you go away for the summer, the first couple of weeks are slightly awkward when you get back to school. Then, you get back into the swing." Daniel Rossen elaborated, "The whole process with this record felt like starting over. We took enough time off that we... I don't know. My head kind of went out of the game or something. Getting back into it was really confusing. It took a long time."

In June 2011, the band moved to Marfa, Texas to begin recording their fourth studio album, with bassist and multi-instrumentalist Chris Taylor returning to his role as producer. Droste noted, "We had passed through before and there is a great arts collective and vibe. We decided to rent a place and make our next album there." The band recorded "an album's worth of material" in Marfa, but ultimately abandoned the majority of tracks. Vocalist Ed Droste noted, "We were like, 'We're ready to do this!' Then, we got there and recorded twelve songs and were like, 'This isn't quite there.'" Vocalist and guitarist Daniel Rossen elaborated, "We didn't have that unspoken momentum, that unspoken understanding of what everyone is into." Only two songs from these sessions made it onto the finished album; "Sleeping Ute" and "Yet Again".

The band subsequently started afresh in early 2012, returning to Droste's mother's home in Cape Cod, where the band had previously recorded its second studio album, Yellow House (2006). Commenting on the return to Yellow House, Droste noted, "It's so funny that we went back there in the end. It's my grandmother's house, we know it, and we can use it for free. And as soon as we got there, things started happening. [...] We just sat by the fire, Dan strumming, me singing, and it happened. Some of the best songs on the record, like "Speak in Rounds" and "Half Gate", came out of that. We stayed there in isolation for two months straight." Droste stated that he and Rossen decided to "'try writing from the bottom up. We've never done it before.' There's a little bit of fear there because it's a new process we've never tried. We've never sat side by side and said, 'Let's literally, out of the ether, start writing songs together.' A couple of songs came that way, and that's why they're verse me, chorus Dan. [...] Suddenly the synergy hit, and the momentum struck, and then everyone got excited. And that's when the ball started to roll, and then we just started playing around, and people were much more open.""