You can tell that Big Thief are feeling good about their four-night residency at Brixton Academy when they open with a delicate new song, “What I Only Dream Of”. It’s a beautiful country number played on acoustic guitar by Adrianne Lenker, accompanied on synth by opening act Dylan Meek, brother of Big Thief guitarist Buck.
Lenker giggles with sheer musical joy as Meek takes a solo, and it’s as if the two of them are alone in a rehearsal room rather than performing in front of 5,000 people. But she knows she’s being watched. “Strangers’ eyes bring me to life,” she sings – which they do, and she does.
“We’re going to play some old songs, some new songs and some in-between songs,” says Lenker, before introducing touring bassist Joshua Crumbly, filling the space left by founding member Max Oleartchik. His departure reduced Big Thief to a trio – Lenker, Buck Meek and drummer James Krivchenia – and they responded by recording Double Infinity, one of their most expansive albums yet, enriched by the presence of New York session players.
This is a band that refuses to stand still. New songs pepper the set. They have debuted several on this Somersault Slide 360 Tour, and Brixton gets six. “Beautiful World” is a rambling track about a surreal road trip involving a dog – Big Thief songs often have a dog – with a chorus that is classic Lenker, despairing at the state of the planet while also marvelling at it: “This fucked-up world / Why must everything be conquered, gutted? / It’s so beautiful”.
Later comes “Muscle Memory”, which, as the title suggests, slips into the set so effortlessly it’s hard to believe it’s not been around for years. Then come three in a row: ferocious rocker “Christmas Day”, on which they sound as if they are channelling Ministry; “Mr Man”, a power-pop number bristling with contempt; and “Pterodactyl”, a slow and heavy crawler.
The crowd lap these up, aware they are lucky to witness a band at their creative height. They are interspersed with fan favourites: “Simulation Swarm” from Dragon New Warm Mountain… is the first singalong, but that’s cut short by Lenker’s guttural guitar solo. Lenker is on a mission to shred; her distorted, epic lead on “Real Love” from debut Masterpiece is fantastic. A couple of songs later the band launch into “Not”, with all four members on vocals, until Lenker decides to rip a hole through the heart of the song with a jagged, down-tuned guitar.
Big Thief have talked about wanting to record a heavy rock album before, and if the new songs are anything to go by, that could be happening soon. Other than “What I Only Dream Of”, they all have a harder edge. “Christmas Day” is particularly fierce, with Krivchenia – dressed in a green hooded onesie like the Green Goblin – having a fine old time behind the kit as the song crunches along.
Lenker’s power as a performer is more subtle. It’s best appreciated with “Anything”, from her brilliant 2020 solo album Songs but now part of the Big Thief canon. It’s a song that the fans love and are itching to sing along in full voice, but Lenker chooses to take everything down a notch, performing it almost a capella. The Brixton crowd – who have been whooping and yelling “I love you” at every chance they get – are awed into silence, not daring to interrupt or accompany. It’s an astonishing piece of stagecraft.
By the time the main set finishes with a joyous “Sparrow”, Big Thief have gone high and low, quiet and loud, new and old, sad and happy, but they have barely touched on Double Infinity. That is rectified when they return with Laraaji, whose zither drones and wordless vocalising formed a central part of the album. Resplendently dressed in orange, he is greeted warmly by the crowd before the band play three songs from the latest record – “Words”, “Los Angeles” and a euphoric “Incomprehensible”.
The latter is an anthem for living, a celebration of not giving a damn about age, dignity or whatever people say. Lenker lets the crowd sing the key couplet – “Let gravity be my sculpture, let the wind do my hair / Let me dance in front of people, without a care” – and a smile splits her face in two as they bellow back her words, happy and defiant.
SETLIST
1 What I Only Dream Of
2 Double Infinity
3 Beautiful World
4 Simulation Swarm
5 Muscle Memory
6 Real Love
7 Shoulders
8 Not
9 Vampire Empire
10 Anything
11 Real House
12 Christmas Day
13 Mr Man
14 Pterodactyl
15 Sparrow
ENCORE
16 Words
17 Los Angeles
18 Incomprehensible