It’s hard to believe that this 20-track album, over 80 minutes of music that ranges wide in styles and textures, is the sound of Big Thief slowing down. The Brooklyn-based indie folk quartet released both their third and fourth albums in the same year, 2019. Since 2018, guitarist Buck Meek has released two solo albums and frontwoman Adrianne Lenker has put out three. But it was only when the global lockdown scuppered the band’s intense touring schedule that they were able to indulge in longer recording sessions in multiple locations.
This fifth release saw them working with different sounds and feels, with four different engineers in studios in upstate New York, Topanga Canyon, the Rocky Mountains and Tucson, Arizona. The varied working environments mean there isn’t a unified feel, other than Lenker’s fragile, birdlike voice, but it gives the potential for a new favourite song every day as the listener delves deeper into this rich soundworld.
