Big Thief - UFOF

One of the mainstays in writing about stuff that means something to me over the last few years on here has been watching the progress of American band Big Thief. They're a remarkably prolific bunch, UFOF, just out, is their third album in four years, bands don't generally work at this rate anymore, last year when they actually managed not to release a record, both singer Adrianne Lenker and guitarist Buck Meek put out their own solo albums instead. They've got a lot of fuel in their tanks. Full on momentum.

The most difficult thing for a young guitar band to do in 2019 is something really new. There's so much in music's archive now, the form they're working within is over sixty years old, (and had previous of course before that), there's plenty there to readily plunder for the lazy, and myriad markets where that will be readily accepted. Having already established that Big Thief are anything but lazy, it's a pleasure to report that UFOF finds them quietly carving out new territory for themselves. On first listen it sounds like their best record and that's really something. 2016's Masterpiece and the following year's Capacity were both wonderful and accomplished records.

But UFOF moves beyond both of these records in terms of its content and general feel into the celestial and sublime. While both of those earlier albums seemed to be rooted in very specific times and places, UFOF takes them somewhere else. Into the cosmic, questioning the very basis idea of what it is to be alive and what that might mean. In some ways it's a happier record than either of its predecessors which touched on abuse and violence but it's far far stranger than either.

Lenker's childhood gave her ample material for an artistic career. Brought up in a cult by parents who split in her teenage years, this seems to have planted within her a sense of 'otherness' that she uses thoughtfully and quite beautifully on the twelve songs of UFOF. Supported by a group who seem just as concerned with their own personal friendships as the bands trajectory, they come across as a phenomenally close knit unit as a result.

Every song here adds to the overall effect. It's a remarkably poised record with an incredible awareness of the fabulous effect music can have when it's capable of capturing the balance between noise and silence. The songs are constantly poised and thrillingly aware.

This record should take Big Thief onto another level. They're developing a growing audience and profile, the release of UFOF comes hot on the heels of a review and in-depth article with Rolling Stone. If ever a band deserves their growing success it's this one. They've been notable from the off, but their determination to keep moving forward rather than just make variations of the template they established early on makes them an altogether different proposition from most of their contemporaries.

Listening to UFOF this morning in one glorious sitting was an intense, wonderful experience. Big Thief are a band rooted in the great Americana traditions. I hear echoes of The Band, Neil Young and even Creedence in the record. But they're forging their own path and in doing so they're worthy of huge respect and even awe. As good an album as anyone will make this year.