More about: Big Thief

Extravagantly named Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, Big Thief's latest album is a gorgeous, folksy display of the extent of Big Thief’s ability. The record is fantastical both in title and in content, with the band experimenting with new sounds, structures and themes. Reportedly taken from a total of 45 tracks created in various locations (including the Rocky Mountains), the album could be both a soundtrack to a great adventure through the wilderness, or an evening of pure listening joy to experience alone. 

Adrianne Lenker’s voice cuts through tender and explorative instrumental tracks with a dreamy hue, perfectly accompanying a gorgeous landscape of sound. Highlights from the album include its title track 'Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You', which escapes the listener to a dreamland of serene echoes and guitar layers, akin to some of the earlier sounds of Bon Iver. 'Spud Infinity' offers a completely new insight into the band’s ability, with droning didgeridoo sounds in the background and a leading violin riff offering an exciting edge to the album’s sound. 'Little Things' brings forward a joyous side of upbeat dream pop, steadying the pace back to the album in between slower tracks. Whilst explorative, the album has its tender moments as well, such as soft acoustic track 'Promise Is a Pendulum'. These more gentle songs enable the album to be consumed as one, with no need for breaks. 

Knowing that the tracks in the album come from such a large collection of songs, it’s clear how much effort and musical skill went into producing DNWMIBIY. It doesn’t feel like there’s any wasted space, despite being such a large set of tracks, as every song has its place. Whilst the album is an enjoyable complete listen, the tracks each have their own right without feeling like filler, as some longer albums tend to struggle with.

There’s some warming country influences in the album as well, such as on closing track 'Blue Lightning', inviting the everyday listener to a genre-spanning delight of a record. Big Thief’s classic sound can be heard in 'Love Love Love', which opens in what sounds like the middle of the song, proving further how Lenker’s songwriting has developed into producing equally classic-sounding and experimental tracks. 

In a time when artists have to navigate a complex music industry that does not always benefit an extensive album release, Big Thief has displayed the importance of producing honest music to the best of your ability. It’s the kind of album that is best consumed whole, so be sure to put aside enough time to take in the whole thing.

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe You is out now.

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More about: Big Thief