Idyllic settings and workhorse hours bring on a different sound for Big Thief. Cycling to and from the studio, where the trio and a host of session musicians and guests would put in gruelling fourteen-hour shifts, brings on a new style of work. The Adrianne Lenker-fronted three piece are still understanding and adapting to the departure of Max Oleartchik. Double Infinity is not so much about his departure as an example of what the band can do while working out where everything falls into place after the shock. They do not muse on it through these nine outstanding songs, how they react in personnel changes, drafting in a host of new musicians, is more important. Lenker remains one of the greatest living lyricists and Double Infinity is further proof of that talent. Not just that, but the strengths of a band rising to the occasion, meeting the high bar they set on their last release and evolving from there.
Nine songs of truly mesmerising work. Lenker presents some of their best lyrics to date with the opening song Incomprehensible and Los Angeles. These are counters to the cold of New York City, a folk-rock sincerity to cut through the perception of the Big Apple as a bitter place. Big Thief wants to maintain their connection to what came before, but knows it must carry on, shaken up by events of the last few years. They provide a convincing nine-song run, with the instrumental blowout of Words just magnificent. A psychedelic tinge to the instrumentals as Lenker affords us time with their subconscious mind, a process which appeared on the opening song and All Night All Day. Double Infinity asks a listener to reject words given to them, to go along with the sway of the times. Words is a love letter to the subconscious. Everyone has one, just some need to work a little harder on being guided by theirs; by letting it do the talking.
These are not messages with the same floating, improvised feel as the instrumentals, recorded live and capturing the moment. Big Thief has a clarity which few bands can afford during difficult times, and it comes from reverting from thought and into instinct. Connectivity like that can be heard on Los Angeles, the first song the trio has written together. A song where intimacy is so clear that they are dreaming the same dreams. Overplayed the message of reconnecting with the world around us may be, but the sincerity Double Infinity is delivered with is powerful. Folk is out, thanks for all the memories. It is the unfamiliarity of overlapping instrumentals, layer after layer of percussion, clangs, and chimes. No Fear is not just an embrace of that new style but a warm experience with it. Happy With You takes it to an extreme of positivity, of trying to persuade the already convinced of their happiness.
Big Thief sounds confident with these new instrumental tones, with these hearty sacrifices. Pair the unconditional sincerity of Happy With You with the reflective doubts of How Could I Have Known, and you have both sides of the life Big Thief are living now. Reminders of lost loves and regained confidence are around every corner. Contending with that is merely a part of life. Big Thief does well to not hit us with blunt instruments on these topics, though are equally as ready to avoid the heartfelt connotations reflection can often bring. A truly gutting album at times. Double Infinity manages to avoid the typical pitfalls of emotionally charged music, partly because Lenker is one of music’s great writers, and partly because the Laraaji-featuring contributions bring about a feeling of community in the face of catastrophe. That reliance is what Big Thief seeks out, and by extension, what they suggest those suffering listeners do too. A brilliant experience, but then, who was expecting any less?
