While her work with Big Thief is what garnered Lenker’s songwriting such widely held acclaim, Capacity and Masterpiece are not the beginning of the story. Big Thief, Capacity Buy nowĬapacity Rough Trade Essential Edition on opaque maroon vinyl As we look ahead to the arrival of this gorgeous new pressing, four years and three Grammy nominations for the band later, we take a moment to reflect on the band's journey so far. These are truly timeless songs.įor this reason, Rough Trade is excited to welcome Capacity into our Essentials range, celebrated by a Rough Trade Essential Edition. The naive yet earthy tone of Lenker’s voice and lullaby-like melodies jar against distorted noise and dark, provocative lyricism to create an album that is both uncanny and enveloping. Debut album Masterpiece captured our attention for its raw emotion, but it was Capacity which clarified Lenker as a truly masterful storyteller and guitar player.

While frequently falling into that unknowable cavern of “folk-rock”, Big Thief tend to set themselves apart from contemporaries with their fondness for dissonance.

Big Thief’s music is its own introduction: deeply intimate, unpretentiously queer, seamlessly blending the autobiographical with the narrative to create a sound that is both frank and steeped in dreamy nostalgia. This much was clear from the release of breakthrough albums Masterpieceand Capacity, and has since been reaffirmed by widely acclaimed albums U.F.O.F and Two Hands, as well as Lenker’s solo work. If art proves that power is vulnerability, then Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenkeris one of the most powerful voices in music today. Words by Helen Lister, Rough Trade Bristol 'Listening to Big Thief is always a little like sitting in on someone else’s spirit ritual: there is the sense that they know something we don’t but they are willing to share.'

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