Department of Eagles began in 2000, when New York University freshmen Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen were assigned to the same room. The two began making music together, collecting samples and turning them into songs using pirated software and a microphone borrowed from their neighbor Chris Taylor (who, years later, would become Daniel's bandmate in Grizzly Bear). Somewhat accidentally, a California label discovered the group and the material recorded in this period was combined with later studio sessions to form the 2003 debut, The Cold Nose. It gained a small but enthusiastic audience and was praised by critics far and wide. In 2007 the two began to collaborate again, using some of Daniel’s bandmates in Grizzly Bear to fill in the gaps. The result, In Ear Park, is a colorful and expansive album filled with intimate, personal songs, many of which draw on memories from Daniel’s childhood, especially those relating to his father, who passed away in 2007. Many of Fred’s contributions relate to similar themes of nostalgia and mortality, occasionally giving the album an elegiac feel.