She did not attend high school and instead received her GED at the age of 16. Her other interests included studying martial arts, and she was the state karate champion three years in a row. Lenker wrote her first song at the age of eight, and recorded her first album at age 13. She spent a summer traveling throughout the midwest and living out of a Ford cargo van. Her parents rented homes in Coon Rapids, Nisswa, and Bloomington, Minnesota, before settling down in Plymouth, Minnesota, where she lived for 10 years. Lenker was born in Indianapolis and was raised in a Christian cult until the age of four, but primarily grew up in Minnesota. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Big Thief.Adrianne Elizabeth Lenker (born July 9, 1991) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of Big Thief. “Hmm … Gorgeous set, okay, what should we do now?” one of Lenker’s bandmates says at the end of “Blue Lightning,” the final track. It’s easy to zone out to some of the band’s droning melodies, but the listener is rewarded for leaning in to pay close attention. Lenker’s echoey, breathy vocals accompanied by softly wailing instrumentation create an otherworldly feeling.ĭespite the winding and lengthy path it takes, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” holds cohesion in its chaos. The title track, as expressive as its name, begins with ambient wind chimes and doesn’t fail to deliver on its promise of complexity. “When I say infinity, I mean now / Kiss the one you are right now,” she continues breathlessly. Its clever wordsmithing gives it away as something new as Lenker rhymes “finish” with “potato knish,” along the kind of joyous melody that I imagine could only be made barefoot in a creek. “Ash to ask and dust to dusk / A dime a dozen, aren’t we just? / But a dozen dimes will buy a crust of garlic bread,” Lenker sings before the song’s climax. “Spud Infinity” holds good humor that is almost parodic in its resemblance to classic country and bluegrass on first listen, with fiddle and twanging jaw harp aplenty. Some tracks verge on bedroom pop or eight-bit video game soundtracks in their whimsy, while others echo the dreamy folk of artists like Fleetwood Mac and some are bare acoustic that rely on gentle harmony rather than instrumentation. “Certainty” channels The Head and the Heart era indie folk, stacked to the brim with raw and ethereal harmonies. “Time Escaping” is a jaunty, dissonant romp through the mysteries of space time. “Sparrow” offers a biblical ode to Eve, while “Simulation Swarm” provides tongue-in-cheek social commentary. There is no one way to describe this album as a whole, but somehow it feels cohesive through Lenker’s easy vocalization and complex lyricism. Genres meld and flow together throughout as the band moves through subject after subject, following through on Lenker’s promise of an album about “everything.” She sings of aliens, potatoes, breakups, shoelaces, snakes and long car rides.Įach track encapsulates a unique feeling along with a new blend of genre. Through winding, well-crafted lyricism and a willingness to be completely unpretentious, Lenker shines in this work. Eight singles were released in the lead-up to this album, hinting at its massive scope and 80-minute listen time. in four different locations, each with their own producers and musical additions. This release was recorded across the U.S. The expansive 20-song record is somehow nostalgic and entirely new all at once, begging you to listen to it in its entirety, to witness their creation.īrooklyn-based Big Thief, comprised of queer indie darling Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik and James Krivchenia, had already made a place for itself in the metaphorical indie hall of fame with its first four albums, like 2019 releases “U.F.O.F.” and “Two Hands,” before embarking on the multi-year project that would eventually result in this album. “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” is a flowing musical odyssey for the band, moving beyond the generic (but wonderful) indie that they’re often associated with. And, like the rest of this album, it holds wholly intentional, carefully crafted emotion that the band invites us to experience with them. This song, “Change,” feels like a beginning, much like its lyrics imply. “Change, like the sky, like the leaves, like a butterfly / Death, like a door, to a place we’ve never been before,” vocalist and songwriter Adrianne Lenker croons in a dreamy melody during the first track of Big Thief’s latest album.
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