Big Thief

For a normal band, debuting with a masterpiece could mean setting the bar far too high from the word go. But Big Thief is anything but a normal band. Their first album came out in 2016. It was actually called "Masterpiece". This tongue in cheek title worked like a sort of liberation for them. It was as if Adrianne Lenker and her bandmates had said ”alright, we have got our masterpiece, now we can get on with things that really matter”. And they started to make records that describe people’s lives. Yours, mine, everybody’s.

After "Masterpiece", came "Capacity" and "U.F.O.F.". Between these two, Lenker also released her first solo album, abysskiss. In total, four timeless records that you turn to when you are at a loss. You stand before them as in front of a mirror, facing their songs, which can either comfort or break you in two depending on your mood because they are full of truths, sung for strangers called Paul, Mary, Randy, Jenni, Haley and Betsy, but also for you. And, suddenly, you everything becomes clear.

With the next October 11th, only five months after the release of "U.F.O.F." and with the memory of its presentation at Primavera Sound 2019 still fresh in our minds, the straight flush of Adrianne Lenker and her Big Thief will be completed by "Two Hands", the fourth album from the band that has taught us that the North American folk-rock tradition can be turned around.