Review Summary: A mind-expanding alteration for Big Thief.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I’m some Big Thief fanboy because that just isn’t accurate. Honestly, I got into Adrianne Lenker’s solo stuff, courtesy of 2024’s
Bright Future, before I had the pleasure of hearing
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You. Adrianne’s solo stuff took a while to grow on me, but once it did, it took me on an emotional rollercoaster. Her output so far is quite light and airy for the most part musically, but there’s an underlying sadness, darkness and a knack for tearjerkers.
Big Thief, from what I've gathered from DNWMIBIY, had a more cheery, "summer cookout" vibe to them. Only having one album to compare, I didn’t know what to expect from
Double Infinity, but what I got was an album that nearly matches its predecessor in quality while going with an entirely different formula to achieve its greatness. It’s clear that Lenker’s solo ventures had at least a bit of an influence here in the overall atmosphere. Whereas DNWMIBIY was more of just a masterclass on how to create cheerful indie folk music,
Double Infinity almost feels like a time warp. The first three tracks, ‘Incomprehensible’, ‘Words’ and ‘Los Angeles’ start the album out as perfectly as possible and are my personal highlights here. Hallucinogenic-sounding acoustics bring a completely unexpected trippy vibe right off the bat as the reverb swirls and Adrianne croons heartbreakingly in the background.
I don’t mean to keep comparing to the predecessor, but it’s an obvious 180 in their sound almost immediately. The title-track is elegant and serene with an almost dark ambient-esque essence coming from its soul. Adrianne has taken the summery, country-tinged melancholy of her solo efforts, added some heavy psychedelic tinges and ambient/drone type of atmospheres and brought them over to Big Thief. ‘No Fear’ is a nearly 7 minute, loud, immersive, noisy ambient track with ghostly background vocals that may seem to meander on, but will draw you in after repeated listens. The following track, ‘Grandmother’, follows the same formula, but adds in some insanely mind-bending psychedelic effects for good measure.
I've seen a lot of complaining and comparing this album to DNWMIBIY, which is to be expected, but it’s a completely different beast entirely.
Double Infinity isn’t an album with a bunch of cheery vibes and summer anthems, it’s deeper and more brooding with a massive layer of atmospherics and sounds that may not be typical for a Big Thief album. Does it hit quite as hard? No, maybe not, but it comes pretty damn close. So let's stop the useless comparisons and enjoy this album for what it is, a kaleidoscopic view on 60s-inspired psychedelic, rock/country-tinged folk music.
