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BIG THIEF 4AD

Big Thief

Masterpiece - 2023 Edition

    Big Thief will release a new edition of their 2016 debut album Masterpiece. For the first time on 4AD, the album containing much-loved songs ‘Paul’, ‘Real Love’ and title track ‘Masterpiece’, will be remastered and reissued on reVinyl pressing from 8 December.

    Masterpiece was recorded in July 2015 at an old house that they turned into a studio on Lake Champlain with producer Andrew Sarlo and engineer James Krivchenia (who would go on to become a full-time Big Thief member). The resultant debut Big Thief studio album is filled with characters and visceral narratives, songs that pivot in the space of a few words. Adrianne Lenker's voice and guitar playing speak of rich emotional territory with grace and insight. In her words, the record tracks, "the masterpiece of existence, which is always folding into itself, people attempting to connect, to both shake themselves awake and to shake off the numbness of certain points in their life. The interpretations might be impressionistic or surrealistic, but they're grounded in simple things." It soars on what Big Thief fan Sharon Van Etten called "...a real journey, with intelligent stories and twist-and-turn melodies."

    Big Thief

    Vampire Empire / Born For Loving You

      Limited, first pressing available on Eco Vinyl, featuring the tracks "Vampire Empire" and "Born for Loving You".

      Big Thief present new single, ‘Vampire Empire’, off their forthcoming ‘Vampire Empire’ / ‘Born For Loving You’ 7” out on 20 October. This year, the song took on a life of its own after a performance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and has become a live fan favorite.

      Recorded and produced by Dom Monks at Guissona, Spain’s Teatre de cal Eril Studio during a recent tour, ‘Vampire Empire’ speaks to the beautiful complexity of gender identity and breaking destructive internal cycles. Of the song, Adrianne Lenker adds, “For me, it’s about getting out of toxic internal patterns – leaving the empire of energy drains that obscure pure essence, learning about what healthy boundaries are, and finding the power to implement them for the possibility of giving and receiving (both inwardly and outwardly) unbroken and infinite Love.”

      TRACK LISTING

      Vampire Empire
      Born For Loving You

      Big Thief

      Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

        Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a sprawling double-LP exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief. To truly dig into all that the music of Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia desired in 2020, the band decided to write and record a rambling account of growth as individuals, musicians, and chosen family over 4 distinct recording sessions. In Upstate New York, Topanga Canyon, The Rocky Mountains, and Tucson, Arizona, Big Thief spent 5 months in creation and came out with 45 completed songs. The most resonant of this material was edited down into the 20 tracks that make up DNWMIBIY, a fluid and adventurous listen. The album was produced by drummer James Krivchenia who initially pitched the recording concept for DNWMIBIY back in late 2019 with the goal of encapsulating the many different aspects of Adrianne’s songwriting and the band onto a single record.

        TRACK LISTING

        Change
        Time Escaping
        Spud Infinity
        Certainty
        Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
        Sparrow
        Little Things
        Heavy Bend
        Flower Of Blood
        Blurred View
        Red Moon
        Dried Roses
        No Reason
        Wake Me Up To Drive
        Promise Is A Pendulum
        12,000 Lines
        Simulation Swarm
        Love Love Love
        The Only Place
        Blue Lightning

        Big Thief

        Two Hands

          Big Thief had only just finished work on their 3rd album, U.F.O.F. – “the celestial twin” – days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth U.F.O.F.’s sister album – “the earth twin” – Two Hands. 30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, Big Thief (a.k.a. Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet. Where U.F.O.F. layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt.

          In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the U.F.O.F. session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the previous session. Two Hands had to be completely different— an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever. With raw power and intimacy, Two Hands folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album.

          STAFF COMMENTS

          Barry says: It's October, and this is already the second Big Thief album this year. It would be understandable to think that such prolific creation would dilute the end product a little (it often does...) but in the case of Lenker, Meek and co, it couldn't be further from the truth. Arresting, heartfelt and beautiful throughout. Yet another stunning outing from the unstoppable Big Thief.

          TRACK LISTING

          1.Rock And Sing
          2. Forgotten Eyes
          3. The Toy
          4. Two Hands
          5. Those Girls
          6. Shoulders
          7. Not
          8. Wolf
          9. Replaced
          10. Cut My Hair

          U.F.O.F., F standing for ‘Friend’, is the name of the highly anticipated third record by Big Thief, set to be released by 4AD on May. It was recorded in rural western Washington at Bear Creek Studios with engineer Dom Monks, and producer Andrew Sarlo who was also behind their previous albums.

          The New York-based band, featuring Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums), has spent the last 4 years on an incessant world tour, winning the devotion of an enthusiastic and rapidly expanding audience.

          Their songs represent an emotional bravery and realness that weaves intimate relationships with the listener, a phenomenon that has made them one of the most widely-respected bands of the current era.

          STAFF COMMENTS

          Barry says: Big Thief are one of our favourites in Piccadilly, and this latest iteration of their sound really shows why. Skilfully toeing the line between mournful acoustic balladry, simmering country and more upbeat melodic indie, Big Thief have once again brought us an eminently listenable and transportative triumph.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. Contact
          2. UFOF
          3. Cattails
          4. From
          5. Open Desert
          6. Orange
          7. Century
          8. Strange
          9. Betsy
          10. Terminal Paradise
          11. Jenni
          12. Magic Dealer


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