Image Credit: 4AD

Fronted by everybody’s favourite tearjerker Adrienne Lenker, Big Thief are known for their output of emotionally vulnerable lyrics wrapped in solemn but catchy instrumentals, and their newly released sixth album,  Double Infinity, only helps to entrench this image further. The record comes three years after their last full-length release, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, and has been long anticipated by indie music fans and critics alike. 

Image Credit: Shervin Lainez

Coming in at just under 43 minutes long, Double Infinity is relatively short, but this does not take away from its deeply pensive beauty. The album opens with its first single ‘Incomprehensible’, which was released on its own in June. To me, the song’s title is certainly applicable to its sound: while it is characteristic of the band’s style and laced with Lenker’s unmistakable vocals, the piece is underscored by a strong, almost dark percussion. In the listener, this evokes a reaction bordering on discomfort, meaning the experience differs from that of most Big Thief songs, which is often transient but generally unapologetically calming. This is not a problem, of course: the slightly unsettling sounds of the first track simply allow us to recognise the band’s progression and the possible emergence of a new era. 

Next comes ‘Words’, which begins with a lone acoustic guitar – redolent of well-loved collaborative work between band members Lenker and Meek – and progresses into so much more. Catchy but meandering, what really drew me in about this track was the lyrics. In what appears to be a reflection on the writing process, Lenker sings: ‘Words are tired and tense/Words don’t make sense/Words are feathered and light/Words won’t make it/Right”. These lines bring forward the vulnerability I have always treasured from Big Thief; here they profess doubt surrounding the power of words, but continue to value and celebrate them in their music and in each creative endeavour they take on – this celebration is embodied and justified by the entirety of Double Infinity.

The ending notes of ‘Words’ drift seamlessly into the opening of ‘Los Angeles’. This piece is another of the album’s singles, released in August alongside ‘Grandmother’, and it provides a near-perfect picture of the band’s strongest traits. It is underscored by simple but effective guitar chords and carried by melodic vocals and harmonies, reminding us of beloved Big Thief tunes such as ‘Change’, though this new piece is perhaps slightly more uplifting. Now to speak of its accompaniment; created in collaboration with Laraaji, ‘Grandmother’ is the only track on Double Infinity to feature another artist. An expert in ambient soundscapes, Laraaji provides listeners with a different and perhaps unexpected vibe. The song undeniably belongs to Big Thief, but the smattering of unfamiliar male vocals and hollow percussion separates it, to some extent, from the rest of their discography. At the risk of seeming close-minded, I have to say that I am not the biggest fan of this new sound – while I appreciate his artistry I am somewhat jarred by the appearance of Laraaji’s voice, which tends to pop up not in words but in the form of unidentifiable noises. Still, the beauty of the band shines through and the song remains enjoyable. 

More expected are the sounds of the album’s other single, ‘All Night All Day’ and its titular track ‘Double Infinity’. Both of these pieces are characterised by cyclical, melodic lyricism, slow drums and gently strummed guitars. Following them, however, is ‘No Fear’, a track which differs from the rest in that it leads with a strong bassline and even stronger drums. Almost seven minutes long, ‘No Fear’ sees no vocals until the 1:42 mark – and when the lyrics do come, they are entrancingly repetitive. The whole track is simply a recital of the same verse eight times over, the content of which is largely undecipherable but which appears to be the album’s only explicit reference to its cover, as time becomes ‘round like a lime’. Despite the confusion it inspires in me, this track has become a personal favourite. I truly think it is magical in both sound and lyric, and this is only solidified by its denouement, which features a windchime-like sound and thereby echoes of fantastical beings and natural beauty. 

Double Infinity’s final two tracks are also its fastest. ‘Happy with You’ lives up to its name in mood, featuring an upbeat background and a higher-pitched depiction of Lenker’s vocal talent, although the lyrics are somewhat disconcerting; if the unrelenting repetition of its title wasn’t strange enough, the song also sees the constant echoing of the phrase ‘poison shame’ with, of course, no further explanation. Towards the end of the track we also sense the demise of its joyful sound, manufactured by the sudden appearance of minor chords and slow, dragging vocals. At last, the album is brought back to itself with final piece ‘How Could I Have Known’, which is teeming with all the characteristics of a Big Thief song, including but not limited to: angelic harmonies, hard-hitting lyrics, soft percussion, and a closing focus on the beauty of the acoustic guitar. 

On the whole, I think Big Thief’s sixth album is a strong addition to their already blooming discography. In general it slots in perfectly with the likes of Dragon New Warm Mountain and contains echoes of Masterpiece, their highly-acclaimed 2016 debut – even still, Double Infinity has its own identity and strays from accepted conceptions of the band in many ways. Each song is raw and emotionally strong as usual, but changes can be seen in the darkness of ‘Incomprehensible’ and the collaborative work of Laraaji which, though not to my taste, remains an interesting and helpful detour. In this way imperfect but nonetheless impressive, the record serves us well as both the long-awaited reanimation of Big Thief, and as an introduction to their new ideas.