Big Thief - Double Infinity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSqYsmmfbCI

1 Incomprehensible 3:53
2 Words 3:47
3 Los Angeles 3:57
4 All Night All Day 4:48
5 Double Infinity 4:12
6 No Fear 6:58
7 Grandmother (feat. Laraaji) 6:00
8 Happy With You 4:26
9 How Could I Have Known 4:48

out 5 september

but where are the other 11 songs???

it wouldn't surprise me if there's a follow-up next year, they have a lot more unreleased material than this & we know they attempted to record a lot more than these 9 songs during the sessions for this album in january

"incomprehensible" is very different to how they were playing it live (although very much in line with the sound of other new tracks) but it's wonderful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qArEypGxUk

they've played the whole album live except for the title track and i'm particularly happy "grandmother" is here, hopefully they'll do it justice

if anyone wants an idea of what the rest of the album's going to resemble:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqkWxgM1mIk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAqYmRwRmM0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ivn2n4aZA0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HUBHXFbkPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OQmqY45Lf4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAzc5dYL_Ng

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrOjNsUhXNM

"all night all day" is at 45:10 in that long one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZM703_UJk

and i pasted "happy with you" twice instead of "grandmother", the best song

that's my grandma!

gonna turn it all into rock and roll!

mikey buishas, who's credited with keys & tape loops on the album, was the drummer in adrianne & buck's pre-big thief band pencil

The "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" chord changes on "Incomprehensible" are not doing it for me, but this is coming from a v casual BT fan whose fave releases of theirs were U.F.O.F. and Live at the Bunker and was only really floored by "Blurred View" on Dragon/kinda wish(ed) them and Shawn Everett would reunite and veer off further into that direction at some point.

"No Fear"'s 8+2+8/slow 5+4 rhythm is grabbing me much more on that live clip, though, thanks for posting all those, ufo

i hope "no fear" is going to be absolutely gigantic on record

i very much expect this to be by far their least folk album. "incomprehensible" really reminds me of loose fur's "laminated cat", there's a similar folk-rock-gone-krautrock vibe

Very excited for this! New song needs some getting used to.

I like the new one, it's trippy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sd0E6tLPQM

"all night all day" sounds as expected, percussive groove with ambient noodling, i like it more than incomprehensible

yea "all night all day" is really nice. when the harmonies and noodling come in at the end it really elevates what came before

Between this and last year's "Lunch", maybe we need an "ode to oral sex song of the year".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOeELtc6fqg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqIeKeQY8G4

"los angeles" and "grandmother"

"los angeles" sounds how i'd expected but "grandmother" is totally different than the live version, this dream-pop arrangement is quite nice but it's not the same as the intense neil young-esque version they were playing live

could've done without laraaji on grandmother but it's not my jam anyway, los angeles on the other hand - great stuff!

I was hoping he'd be on kalimba or zither there

this is a merely pretty good album from a band that i'm used to being transcendent

"words" and "how could i have known" are both fantastic

I've liked the released tracks to varying degrees. I thought they got great with Dragon... and were often good and sometimes not before it.

I...hope I like these songs better in context.

Probably already released but they just posted a thank-you message with a full credit list:

--

Adam Brisbin - guitar
Adrianne Lenker - guitar, voice, drone, percussion, ambience
Alena Spanger - voice
Buck Meek - guitar, voice
Caleb Michel - percussion
Hannah Cohen - voice
James Krivchenia - drumset, percussion, synth, voice, drone, ambience
Jon Nellen - percussion
Joshua Crumbly - bass
June McDoom - voice
Laraaji - voice, zither, tablet, percussion
Mikel Patrick Avery - percussion
Mikey Buishas - piano, tape loop, synth

first listen this is very pretty and a good vibe but also very same-y? i haven't felt that way about any of their previous albums, even the songs that were stylistically similar had a distinctive element, and i'm only really getting that from laraaji on "grandmother." the songs aren't grabbing me immediately like a dozen or so did on the last one

yeah they developed a sound for the album and put everything through that sound. it's not a bad sound but there's not a lot of dynamics going on which helps to make it all blend together

i don't like what they ended up doing with "no fear", it's definitely one of the weaker songs here. in the live version from last year it built up tension and released that (in the vein of "contact") with a section ~5 minutes in that's completely gone from the studio version, so now it's just 7 minutes of meandering, it doesn't even have the same tension

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HUBHXFbkPs

"happy with you" is also a pretty weak song but that was the case in the live versions too, the few lines it has could have been a great starting point but they're not really enough to be the entire song. the backing is gorgeous anyway though

a lot of this reminds me of late period cocteau twins when they expanded their live band and had two drummers. vocals are doing something completely different of course but it's a similar vibe, especially "grandmother"

i like "no fear" as a change of pace, but agreed that it pales in comparison to the live version.

fun fact: spofity lists big thief as currently having 6,666,667 monthly listeners *devil horns*

I think "Happy with You" is an official Bad Song.

first listen this is very pretty and a good vibe but also very same-y? i haven't felt that way about any of their previous albums, even the songs that were stylistically similar had a distinctive element, and i'm only really getting that from laraaji on "grandmother." the songs aren't grabbing me immediately like a dozen or so did on the last one

pretty much my take, but the vibe is good enough that i can imagine listening to it a lot

haven't listened but i really hate this album cover

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/683f114f95637f20b5cdf0e9/1:1/w_320,c_limit/Big-Thief-Double-Infinity.jpg

it just needs a garish jagged font to be an early 2000s drum'n'bass mix

https://i.imgur.com/edRBxhI.png

Featured on MTV AMP

spuddle infinity

thank u jaymc

Just had my first listen during a perfectly timed drive from LA to Long Beach. fwiw I ignored most of the advance songs and live YouTubes so I am essentially hearing the whole thing cold.

I like it overall. Definitely agree it is a more consistent/coherent vibe than some of their others, especially DNWMIBIY. But that doesn’t bother me - I’m hearing it as a feature not a bug. Takes a song or two to really get going but I think the middle section of this album is really strong - it kicked into gear for me on “All Night All Day” and kept me highly absorbed through “Grandmother”.

I don’t think “Happy With You” is bad but agree that lyrically at least it feels unfinished.

Seems like a silly complaint, but if they made the drums/percussion 3dB quieter and slightly more centred in the mix, I'd enjoy this a lot more. Love most of the songs as played live, could get into the album arrangements, but the loud drums are really fatiguing to my ears.

japan bonus track "giving it all" is pretty good and probably would have been a nice change of pace on the album proper, it's interesting to hear them put the ambient noodling in service of a more traditional finger-picked folk song

Oh wow. I don't know how to feel about this. Dragon was my "coming out of lockdown" album and their music means a lot to me. Ehat I know for sure is "All Day All Night" is one of my favourite songs of the year. "Haopy with you" is sadly not up to my expectations after hearing it live: There ws bile and pain in that song which is non-present in the studio version. But overall I'm enjoying this and it's going to take a few listens.

Excuse the typos

i guess it would have been kinda unfair if lenker had put out a second album this year that's as incredible as live at revolution hall

"Happy With You" was such a highlight from when I saw them live. The repetitious, unfinished-sounding feeling was a feature, not a bug - Lenker boldly staying on track by unwaveringly switching from these two refrains. And it sounded so intense. I loved it. The studio version is too soft and pretty for what I think the song deserves

What i do like is how concise and of-a-piece it sounds. The tracks blend together like a mixtape. You can sit and be in this world for a short while and it's a nice place to be. Very different from Dragon which was a big chocolate box record

'Los Angeles'makes me think of Cocteau Twins 'Wolf In The Breast'

All Night All Day is so beautiful though. It makes the album worth its weight

Okay... the title track is also very beautiful.

But... there is somethibg about the production choices on this album that doesnt work too great for me. I think it's the drum sound.

First time around and some nice to great tracks but I had to skip « happy with you » after a while as it got so annoying

i like "Words"

How Could I Have Known is a lovely send off

My latest hot take is that this is Heaven Or Las Vegas '25

the songs aren't quite good enough overall for that but the atmosphere is even better

i'm pretty sure they're on the record as fans of cocteau twins though, i'd be shocked if they weren't a major influence here

Between this and the new Sabrina song that bites Rilkean Heart we’re on the cusp of entering a Cocteau Fall

I like this album (except for one song) but comparing it to Heaven or Las Vegas is many bridges too far !

Oh god yeah I'm talking atmos/vibe/execution as opposed to a direct qualitative comparison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYnAQ5xYgPQ

new version of an old unreleased song ("last time", previously known as "geese")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9zbg7aMXcE

and full-band debut of "carry" which sounds a lot like a nick cave ballad? idk if it's a specific song i'm thinking of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5jdSSf_CsQ

the way they're doing "grandmother" live is halfway between last year's live version and the studio version, so equal parts cocteau twins and crazy horse, which works really well somehow

Saw them last night at Hollywood Bowl, with Laraaji on hand to help them through the majority of the new album. My first time seeing them and it was excellent.

All night All day really really sounds like Bowie's Word On A Wing

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-09-25/big-thief-hollywood-bowl-double-infinity

follow-up album confirmed to be complete!

iris dement is on it and i assume greg leisz is likely to be too since they brought him out at the hollywood bowl

this is pretty easily their best since capacity imo

The idea of Iris Dement on a Big Thief song is blowing my mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnWRsj_Sh7M

i like "no fear" much more now that they're extending it out to 12 minutes

Thinking about how directly Big Thief connects to some strands of '90s indie — not so much alt-country, although there's some of that, but more the Palace Brothers/Drag City end.

Yeah I think I said on the Dragon New Warm Mountain thread that there are songs on that album that remind me specifically of Palace’s Hope EP

The idea of Iris Dement on a Big Thief song is blowing my mind

― erasingclouds, Wednesday, October 1, 2025 9:15 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

!!!

No one mentioning the CD booklet lyrics? Like watching a horror movie, where the screen is dark and you have no idea what's happening. Maybe I'm too old and my eyes don't register ultraviolet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RhWupp8fBE

"grandmother" on fallon with the extended lineup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIigU8mt4TU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlX-R9F6aH8

the buck meek album out this week seems to be shaping up to be easily his best

Did Not Know about that---thanks!

No one mentioning the CD booklet lyrics? Like watching a horror movie, where the screen is dark and you have no idea what's happening. Maybe I'm too old and my eyes don't register ultraviolet.

― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca)

damn, hyped for buck! will catch him on the euro tour too, he was great last time

haunted mountain is a great little record, too

his previous solo albums seemed fine but were not really my thing. this time krivchenia's on production duties and is doing an incredible job

I really love Two Saviors, looking forward to hearing this one

yeah the buck meek album is very solid, production is excellent

Wow, those do sound great.

new track "relive, redie" on the help 2 comp is fine, it's a dnwmibiy outtake and certainly isn't up with the best from that album but it's good enough that i really believe they could have gotten away with a quadruple album

Got tickets to their upcoming tour. Very excited, as I've only seen Lenker solo in concert.

Seeing Buck Meek tonight

Got tickets to their upcoming tour. Very excited, as I've only seen Lenker solo in concert.

Likewise! Just got tickets for August.

i guess it probably would make sense if the album's out in july then just before that leg of the tour starts?

Saw Buck Meek last night. The opening band was called Kisser and featured… Buck Meek, plus his wife on lead vocals and two other guys (drums and keys) who were also in Buck’s backing band. Very different from either Buck or Big Thief. Kinda post-punky?

Ha, that sounds good! Don't we have a thread about bands/artists who are also their own opening act?
Speaking of Lenker solo shows: dunno how typical it is, but Live At Revolution Hall is sooo silly enjoyable, once nerves yet more or less used to it: the audience sounds like giddy, often screamy stoned middle schoolers. Lenker seems kinda Donovan, or some other acid folk magnet, and sometimes other musos are heard with her, like when Bright Promise sprouts accompanists, except mistier stage sound and eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees from the floor Didn't quite keep me from noticing that some of the songs got a bit predictable in this non-BT setting, but overall v. enjoyable.

as much as i love dragon new warm mountain and ufof, i think live at revolution hall is somehow her best work, it's really magic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quG1UawJOmA

wonderful radio session, including "trade tomorrow" which is likely to be on this year's album

new tour leg means clips of a bunch of new songs are out there. vibes are noisy roots-rock

"casual touch": https://www.instagram.com/rgibbler/reel/DXB3dL4F4Df/

"christmas day": https://www.instagram.com/rgibbler/reel/DW89gRSFuMY/

new version of "terrifying": https://www.instagram.com/rgibbler/reel/DXB7QTACfhc/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3jOKEAqYd8

james sings lead for a bit on "where will we go"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z-8zdTiLyY

"christmas day" is fantastic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDaLhSLgIM8

"pterodactyl" is right out of the lonesome crowded west

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_38V7fNp34

great acoustic session with three new songs + "double infinity". "carry" is especially lovely here

As one of the board's early Big Thief/Lenker stans, it's weird and kind of inexplicable to me how much I've turned on this band. I could not get into Double Infinity at all, and I found them to be a snoozefest when I saw them at Forest Hills - even songs I like just didn't deliver live. The older albums still hold up well. I find the newer stuff to have this kind of new-agey, over-therapized, hippie "authentic self" vibe and none of the prior edge. I find the recent live clips unwatchable. Oh well.

That's fascinating. And I tried hard until Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You.

I’ve been relistening to all their albums lately. I love them but I also don’t think they’ve ever made an album that I fully adore from front to back - like every single song is a stone classic. Masterpiece for instance has a ton of excellent songs but even all these years later whenever I put it on there are a few that I forgot existed.

In my re-listening, Capacity went up in my estimation and UFOF went down. I still need to revisit DNWMIBIY.

But Double Infinity - that album really grew on me last year and I still go back to it frequently. There are a couple songs near the end that nag at me a little, but overall I think it’s really excellent.

I loved UFOF and Two Hands, like the subsequent ones a little less, but there's still lots of good stuff on them. I saw them live in support of Two Hands just as they were really taking off. I didn't hate the show, but it did feel like they hadn't quite figured out how to project out to a larger venue.

Yeah it still felt like that. Everything sounded kind of limp.

I'm seeing them next month, looking forward to it. I've seen Adrianne Lenker solo, which was great, but not the whole band. My sense has always been that they're a good live band? I guess I'll see.

they were wonderful when i saw them on the dragon new warm mountain tour, the only issue was that 90 minutes wasn't enough.

ufof and dnwmibiy are their two classics but the only album i don't really care for is masterpiece

I'm seeing them next month, looking forward to it. I've seen Adrianne Lenker solo, which was great, but not the whole band. My sense has always been that they're a good live band? I guess I'll see.

― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, July 22, 2026 6:01 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I did see her solo years ago and she was amazing. Maybe the sound was just off at Forest Hills, idk.

They're good backing Tucker Zimmerman on his album too.
I listened to Double Infinity at least five times, feeling like my involvement was forcibly restrained at times---mainly, liked the voice & drums alright, but they needed more of the others---before I found it on YouTube with all the lyrics for each song displayed in each "video"--this was the band's official post---and then it totally worked! But I want an album to work w/o that sort of help.

Lenker's Live At Revolution Hall is good, though you may have to get used to the screamy giddy audience, like middle schoolers on drugz & jellybeanz.

I saw them at Hollywood Bowl last year and they were terrific