Few indie bands have earned the kind of quiet devotion that Big Thief has garnered through their fanbase. Formed in Brooklyn in 2015 by singer-guitarist Adrianne Lenker, guitarist Buck Meek, drummer James Krivchenia, and bassist Max Oleartchik, the group quickly became synonymous with intimate-yet-exploratory folk rock sound. After Oleartchik’s departure in 2024, the remaining trio entered New York’s legendary recording studio Power Station this January, where they invited eleven guest musicians, including ambient pioneer Laraaji, to join three weeks of live, largely improvised sessions. The result, “Double Infinity,” feels both like a gentle reset and an open-ended experiment. The record floats between folk rock, neo-psychedelia, and country folk while teasing out a looser, more playful side of the band.
This is, above all, a transitional album. Where 2022’s “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You” stretched Big Thief’s emotional and sonic palette to big screen proportions, “Double Infinity” favors free-flowing jams and hypnotic textures. It’s music meant to sprawl on a late-summer afternoon: warm, soft, and quietly philosophical. Sometimes the band’s lush psychedelia nearly swallows Lenker’s vivid lyrics, but the atmosphere they conjure — dreamy, meditative, and occasionally overstuffed — is its own reward.
The opener, “Incomprehensible,” plunges straight into a wall of sound: a clattering tangle of percussion, shimmering strings, and tambourine that feels suffocatingly comforting. Lenker’s lyrics on the beauty of aging cut through the haze, her voice a steady current amid the waves of sound.
By contrast, “Words” dances with a more playful spirit. Its catchy riffs and hypnotic drums give it the feel of an impromptu jam, and its echoing background vocals bathe the track in a subtle freak-folk tone. The loose, almost structureless arrangement can make the song feel untied — more a snapshot of love in motion than a self-contained statement — but its breezy energy lingers long after listening.
“Los Angeles” brings the band closer to their folk-country roots. Warm and inviting, its loving lyrics exude joy in every facet as Lenker sings with alliteration: “The picture box is full/And we are kissing in a fistful of fragments, falling down.” It briefly falters in the chorus, interrupting the seamless flow, and the guitar work can be characterized as simple, but its quiet charm holds the track together.
Big Thief’s psychedelic ambitions show prominently towards the middle of the album. “All Night All Day” layers chimes and psychedelic country over a jungle-like rhythm. Its sensual, loving lyrics are enlightening while the background vocals, slightly overdone in the mix, add depth. The chorus occasionally clashes with the beat’s constant motion, but the inventiveness of the sound design, especially the use of chimes, is transportive.
The title track, “Double Infinity,” slows the tempo to let Lenker’s words breathe: “The butterflies on the summer breeze/The wildflowers sway with ease/At the bridge of two infinities/What’s been lost and what lies waiting.” Subtle percussion and calm backing vocals frame one of the most lyrical motifs of the whole album, a reminder that Lenker is unmatched in her poetic clarity.
“No Fear” plays like a slow-burning jam, its groovy bass and wavy percussion gradually building a heavy, warm atmosphere to fall into completely. Here the lyrics take a backseat, letting the musical chemistry of the band shine as the track subtly grows in complexity.
The album’s most notable collaboration comes with “Grandmother,” featuring Laraaji. Lenker layers her own vocals into a harmonious chorus about family and childhood, while Laraaji’s ethereal backing turns the instrumental breaks into vibey euphorias. The outro, fading gently beneath the voices of both singers, stands among the album’s most subtly beautiful moments.
On “Happy With You,” the funky drumming steals the spotlight. Lenker repeats the simple phrases “happy with you” and “poison shame” as the melody shifts and the song’s dual melodies play off one another, proving that repetition can be effective when the groove evolves under it.
The more intimate “How Could I Have Known” provides a conclusive, almost anthemic tune. Its powerful percussion, layered harmonies, and psychedelic guitar solo celebrate love with open-hearted warmth before stripping back to simple guitar and vocals for the last few seconds, quietly bringing the album back to Earth.
If “Double Infinity” has a flaw, it’s that its psychedelic haze occasionally muddles the lyrical brilliance that made Big Thief noteworthy in the first place. Some songs risk blending together and a few instrumental breaks fail to craft a compelling reason for their existence. Yet the record’s meditative charm feels very purposeful. Big Thief sounds like a band rediscovering its art, testing new colors, inviting friends, and letting the music breathe.
With their “Somersault Slide 360 Tour” planned for the spring of 2026, and a new lineup ready to go, Big Thief is embracing change. “Double Infinity” isn’t a grand statement so much as an open-hearted exploration of love and hazy days, and that’s precisely why it works. It invites you to lay back, listen, and get lost in its infinity.
