Big Thief released their sixth studio album “Double Infinity” on Sept. 5 after three years of anticipation from their fans. Personally, I’ve only become a Big Thief fan recently — shoutout to my roommate — but I was still excited to see what the band was going to come up with. I was especially curious because “Double Infinity” is only nine tracks long, while their previous endeavor “Dragon New Warm Mountain” had a whopping 20 tracks.
What got me into Big Thief’s music was Adrianne Lenker’s songwriting abilities and their strengths in folk music. I loved the woodsy, poetic sprawl that I found throughout “Dragon New Warm Mountain” and was hoping for more growth within that genre. Instead, “Double Infinity” marked a transition into indie rock. I’m a fan of that genre too, so it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I don’t think it’s the band’s strong suit.
As an overall experience, I found myself liking “Double Infinity” in a background-music sort of way. I’ll play it while I’m studying to set the mood, but I’m not actively listening or in love with any particular song. I think part of my reasoning is that, while I loved Lenker’s songwriting, some of the lyrics made for clunky verses. Lead single “Incomprehensible” is probably the most egregious, which is unfortunate because I think Lenker’s songwriting overall is as strong as ever on this album. “As I stood along that river / Where the lovers left their chains / It reminded me of everyone / I had ever tried to claim,” Lenker sings in “How Could I Have Known.” Isn’t that just a beautiful thing?
Also, while I typically enjoy Lenker’s vocals — especially when referring to her solo music — they weren’t clicking for me on this album. At times, she sounded as if she were mumbling, or she was too quiet in the mix for me to understand her over the instrumental. At best, the instrumentals were fine enough that I just decided to vibe with the songs rather than try to make sense of what she was singing.
Big Thief has done indie rock before, so I don’t doubt that longtime fans are loving the album. However, as a more recent fan who enjoys a particular Big Thief sound, this album wasn’t my favorite. Overall, I give Big Thief’s “Double Infinity” 3.5 out of 5 Big Oles.
