{"id":4943,"date":"2025-09-03T14:47:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/big-thiefs-double-infinity-reviewed-their-uplifting-and-open-hearted-sixth-album-151204\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T14:47:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:47:47","slug":"big-thiefs-double-infinity-reviewed-their-uplifting-and-open-hearted-sixth-album-151204","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/big-thiefs-double-infinity-reviewed-their-uplifting-and-open-hearted-sixth-album-151204\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Thief\u2019s Double Infinity reviewed: uplifting and open-hearted sixth album"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If Big Thief<\/a><\/strong> are now ostensibly a trio, how come they have never sounded as big as they do on Double Infinity<\/strong>? It\u2019s paradox that reflects one of the central themes of this, their sixth studio album \u2013 how people change over time, how the present is simply a bridge between the infinite experience of the past and possibilities of the future. Double Infinity<\/strong> is a dense, deep, fluid album that pushes their exceptional rate of development into new areas thanks in part to a roster of New York musicians, who collectively add layers to the band\u2019s songs, shifting them into unexpected directions, but without overwhelming the essence of Big Thief\u2019s trade: making music from raw emotion. \u201cGonna turn it all, into rock and roll<\/em>,\u201d sings Adrianne Lenker<\/strong> on \u201cGrandmother<\/strong>\u201d, a lyric that seems more like a mantra, set against a backdrop of percussion and wordless vocalising.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A dense, deep, fluid album\u2026<\/h2>\n

If Big Thief<\/a><\/strong> are now ostensibly a trio, how come they have never sounded as big as they do on Double Infinity<\/strong>? It\u2019s paradox that reflects one of the central themes of this, their sixth studio album \u2013 how people change over time, how the present is simply a bridge between the infinite experience of the past and possibilities of the future. Double Infinity<\/strong> is a dense, deep, fluid album that pushes their exceptional rate of development into new areas thanks in part to a roster of New York musicians, who collectively add layers to the band\u2019s songs, shifting them into unexpected directions, but without overwhelming the essence of Big Thief\u2019s trade: making music from raw emotion. \u201cGonna turn it all, into rock and roll<\/em>,\u201d sings Adrianne Lenker<\/strong> on \u201cGrandmother<\/strong>\u201d, a lyric that seems more like a mantra, set against a backdrop of percussion and wordless vocalising.<\/p>\n

These rapturous incantations comes courtesy of Laraaji<\/strong> \u2013 the most prominent musician who joined Lenker, guitarist Buck Meek and drummer James Krivchenia for recordings sessions at New York\u2019s Record Plant. In a neat echo of Laraaji\u2019s \u2018discovery\u2019 by Brian Eno<\/strong> \u2013 who heard him playing in Washington Square and dropped his phone number into the collection basket \u2013 Laraaji gave Lenker his business card when they shared a bill at the Welcome Home Festival in October 2023. On \u201cGrandmother<\/strong>\u201d, Laraaji plays his trademark zither adding percussion and manipulating sounds with an iPad and effects pedals. Later, \u201cLos Angeles<\/strong>\u201d opens with peals of laughter from the gathered musicians, a tribute to Laraaji\u2019s long-running wellbeing-enhancing \u201claughter workshops\u201d.<\/p>\n

Plenty had been accomplished in the Big Thief Extended Universe\u2026<\/h2>\n

But on \u201cGrandmother<\/strong>\u201d, Laraaji\u2019s wailing vocal that holds a central role in the melody. This song is a musical touchstone for the record, expanding the Big Thief template into electronica, drone and world music. It was also significant for being the first song that Lenker, Meek and Krivchenia wrote as a trio during extended writing sessions, as the band tried to find a new way forward following the sprawling drama of 2022\u2019s double LP Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You<\/strong> and the departure of bassist Max Oleartchik<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, plenty had been accomplished in the Big Thief Extended Universe \u2013 all three members have released solo albums, while the band backed songwriter Tucker Zimmerman<\/strong> on 2024\u2019s Dance Of Love<\/strong>. On Double Infinity, Oleartchik\u00a0has been replaced by Joshua Crumbly<\/strong> and the group have taken this change in their stride \u2013 much as you\u2019d expect from a band that survived the marriage and divorce of Lenker and Meek without missing a beat.<\/p>\n

Where Dragon New Warm Mountain spread its ambition over 20 kaleidoscopic songs, largely performed by the band alone, Double Infinity crams a similar wealth of aspiration into nine tracks. Much of the weight comes from the sheer number of people in the studio. Lenker is backed by three vocalists, all talented songwriters in their own right \u2013 Hannah Cohen<\/strong>, Alena Spanger<\/strong> and June McDoom<\/strong>. Percussion comes from various combinations of Mikel Patrick Avery<\/strong>, Caleb Michel<\/strong> and Jon Nellen<\/strong>, while Mikey Buishas<\/strong> plays piano and tape loops. Add Laraaji and Crumbly, there\u2019s a lot of people in the room.<\/p>\n

The gap between the subconscious and self-consciousness\u2026<\/h2>\n

That puts the onus on Lenker to write songs big enough to contain them all. On \u201cWords<\/strong>\u201d she seems to question her own capacity to do so. \u201cWords don\u2019t make sense<\/em>,\u201d she sings with a gasp, \u201cwords won\u2019t make it right<\/em>\u201d, while the band develop a meaty drone, out of which spirals a great guitar line. It\u2019s one of several songs on the record about communication, and the gap between what we say and what we think \u2013 or in Lenker\u2019s neat explanation, subconscious and self-consciousness.<\/p>\n

That duality sits at the heart of the record. It\u2019s explored by the title song, \u201cDouble Infinity<\/strong>\u201d, which is about standing \u201cat the bridge of two infinities; what\u2019s been lost and what lies waiting<\/em>\u201d. <\/p>\n

Lenker sings in a higher register and the musicians step back to give her thoughts space as the beautiful vocal melody continues to breath and unfold. The song spirals back on itself as Lenker offers a series of contradictions \u2013 unrelenting and cascading, mourning and celebrating, forming and fading \u2013 before reaching some sort of resolution.<\/p>\n

She returns to the idea on \u201cHow Could I Have Known<\/strong>\u201d, one of the more conventional tracks on the album. Here, she looks back at the start of a relationship asking, \u201cHow could I have known\/In that moment?<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n

As the song continues, it transpires that Lenker is in Paris, walking along the Seine. She\u2019s looking at the padlocks that lovers attach to the Pont des Arts and pondering how things can finish yet continue at the same time. A relationship might end but love prevails.<\/p>\n

A pair of songs tease with structure<\/h2>\n

A pair of songs tease with structure. On \u201cNo Fear<\/strong>\u201d, the beat is jagged and intense, with Crumbly\u2019s crawling bass poking out the percussion to provide something to cling to. Loops and drone build a sound not unlike The Cure<\/strong>, while Lenker\u2019s lyric emerges from the foggy soundscape as she chants the same 10 lines over and over like a mantra. \u201cHappy With You<\/strong>\u201d opens with an acoustic jangle and proceeds with poppy vigour as Lenker sings three lines that would form a haiku, if she didn\u2019t repeat each individual sentence over and over, building a wall of words from 17 syllables like a protective spell against the world.<\/p>\n

While early Big Thief songs were often written from a third-person perspective and populated by characters with women\u2019s names, Lenker has written more consistently from the first-person perspective since her 2020 solo record, Songs. That brings the listener straight into the story, blurring the line between autobiography and storytelling. That confusion is increased by the detail that Lenker brings to three of the best songs on the record. On \u201cAll Night All Day<\/strong>\u201d the musicians deliver a buoyant musical palate while Lenker drawls an intimate opening line, as she sings about pleasure and love. Once more she is pondering two extremes, is love poison or is it sugar? Lenker believes it is neither: \u201cLove is just a name\/A thing we say for what pulls through\/\u2019Til we come together<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Uplifting and open-hearted\u2026<\/h2>\n

Opening track \u201cIncomprehensible<\/strong>\u201d has some of Big Thief\u2019s traditional bounce as the music races to keep pace with Lenker\u2019s lyrics. Here we first meet the central concept, with Lenker remembering moments from the past, and imagining her future, looking at getting older with liberating abandon rather than fear. It includes her best verse on the record. On \u201cReal House<\/strong>\u201d, from her 2024 solo album Bright Future<\/strong>, Lenker sang \u201cNow 31, and I don\u2019t feel strong<\/em>\u201d. What a difference two years makes. Now she sings that \u201cin two years it\u2019s my birthday and I\u2019ll be 33\/That doesn\u2019t really matter next to eternity\/But I like a double number and I like an odd one too\/And everything I see from now on will be something new<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s typical of Lenker\u2019s worldview, which has little room for regret and recrimination. It\u2019s what makes her love songs so intense and her break-up songs so generous and free from self-pity to the extent that at times it can be hard to tell them apart. \u201cLos Angeles<\/strong>\u201d is a typical example, rich with detail \u2013 addresses, time, seat numbers \u2013 but vaguer in who Lenker is singing about. A flood of captivating images are buoyed along by the rich musical tapestry and a song that\u2019s illustrative of the broader mood: uplifting and open-hearted, looking backwards and forwards without blame or trepidation.<\/p>\n

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