Big Thief

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This article is about the American band. For the German silent film, see The Big Thief.

**Big Thief** is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York. Its members are Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums).

The band's debut album, *Masterpiece*, was released on Saddle Creek Records in 2016. Their second studio album, *Capacity*, was released in 2017. In 2019, the band signed to 4AD and released two studio albums: *U.F.O.F.* in May 2019 and *Two Hands* in October 2019. Both albums received critical acclaim; *U.F.O.F.* was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, and the song "Not", was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The band's fifth studio album, *Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You* was released in February 2022.

## History

### 2013–2015: Early years

Adrianne Lenker met Buck Meek at a show in Boston, and after meeting him again in Brooklyn as undergraduates, the pair began performing as a duo. They toured as a duo in 2013, and released two EPs, *a-sides* and *b-sides*, in 2014. In 2015, after performing for two years and developing a small grassroots following, they began looking for additional members to accompany them, and formed the band Big Thief with the arrival of Max Oleartchik, a bassist and longtime friend of Meek's. James Krivchenia joined the band later, originally as a sound engineer and then as a drummer. All four members of Big Thief attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

### 2016–2018: *Masterpiece* and *Capacity*

The band's debut studio album, *Masterpiece* was released on Saddle Creek Records on May 27, 2016. It received generally favorable reviews from critics; it has a rating of 79/100 on Metacritic. Bob Boilen from NPR wrote that Big Thief was "a band bound by great songs," and called the title track of *Masterpiece* "one of the best songs I've heard this year." Jillian Mapes, writing for Pitchfork Media, gave *Masterpiece* a rating of 7.7 out of 10 saying the songs on the album "sound cherry-picked over a lifetime of writing". Robert Christgau described the album's songs as being "fragile, noisy images of a love perpetually out of reach". Ben Salmon wrote in *the Portland Mercury* that on the album Big Thief "alternately sounds like an unearthed field recording ("Little Arrow"), a pop band with a broken heart's pulse ("Vegas"), and a classic, buzzy indie-rock outfit ("Interstate")."
On April 4, 2017, Big Thief premiered a new single "Mythological Beauty" on NPR. The next day the band released the single's official video and confirmed that the song would appear on their second studio album, *Capacity*. The full album was released on June 9 via Saddle Creek. *Capacity* received critical acclaim upon its release. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album received an average score of 81 indicating "universal acclaim" based on 15 reviews.

*Capacity* appeared on multiple album-of-the-year lists, including #1 on NPR's "Bob Boilen's Top Ten Album's of 2017". Boilen said, "I don't recall the last time I had the same band in my top five albums for two years in a row. But this year's *Capacity* (my No. 1 album) and last year's *Masterpiece* (my No. 4 album) did just that." SPIN named *Capacity* #2 on their "50 Best Albums of 2017", citing the band's "open engagement with anguish in their bracing songs." The song "Mary" appeared on Pitchfork's 200 Best Songs of the 2010s list, at #44.

### 2019–2020: *U.F.O.F.* and *Two Hands*

*U.F.O.F.*, the band's third studio album was announced on February 26, 2019. The album was recorded at Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, Washington. On the same day they released the album's first single, its title track. "U.F.O.F.", and announced a new tour across America and in Europe. The band released two more singles, "Cattails" and "Century" ahead of the album release on May 3, 2019. *U.F.O.F.* received critical acclaim upon its release. It was called "Best New Music" by *Pitchfork* scoring a 9.2 and came in at #33 on Pitchfork's 200 Best Albums of the 2010s list. At Metacritic the album received an average score of 87/100. In the first album's release week *U.F.O.F.* reached the top of Billboard charts, including the #1 position on Alternative New Artist Albums, Americana/Folk Albums, Top New Artist Albums, #2 placement for LP Vinyl Albums, #6 placement for Current Alternative Albums, #8 placement for Current Rock Albums, and #142 for Billboard Top 200 Albums. The band also had 3 sold out album release shows, one the night before the album release in LA at The Fonda Theatre on May 2, another in LA on May 3 at The Bootleg Theater, and a third night in Brooklyn, NY at Elsewhere on May 5, 2019.

*U.F.O.F.* was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Big Thief released their fourth studio album, *Two Hands* on October 11, 2019. The album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, shortly after the recording of *U.F.O.F.* and is billed as its "Earth twin". The album's lead single "Not" was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

### 2021–present: *Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You*

On August 10, 2021, the band released the songs "Little Things" and "Sparrow", both which were produced by Big Thief drummer James Krivchenia. "Little Things" was recorded with Shawn Everett at Five Star Studios in Topanga, California in October 2020. "Sparrow" was recorded with Sam Evian at Flying Cloud Recordings in the Catskills, New York in July and August 2020.

On September 7, 2021, the band released a song "Certainty" followed by another song "Change", on October 6. They also announced plans for a North American tour in 2022.

In the November 2021 issue of *Mojo*, Big Thief announced their plans to release a 20-track double album in early 2022. The album was recorded in four different locations across the United States after the band quarantined in the Vermont woods for two weeks in July 2020. Later that month the band confirmed the album's title *Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You* and a February 11, 2022 release date.

## Band members

**Current members**

* Adrianne Lenker – vocals, guitar (2015–present)
* Buck Meek – guitar, backing vocals (2015–present)
* Max Oleartchik – bass guitar (2015–present)
* James Krivchenia – drums (2016–present)

**Former member**

* Jason Burger – drums (2015-2016)

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## Discography

### EPs

* *Demos Vol. 1* (2020)
* *Live at the Bunker Studio* (2021)

### Music videos

* "Masterpiece" (2016)
* "Humans" (2016)
* "Mythological Beauty" (2017)
* "Red Moon" (2022)

## References

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Salmon, Ben (6 July 2016). Big Thief's Masterpiece Finds the Right Alchemy. *Portland Mercury*. Retrieved on July 8, 2016.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Lore Of Big Thief (9 November 2017).
4. ↑ Maldonado, Eva (August 10, 2018). Indie rock band Big Thief talks Berklee, Boston, and being vulnerable. Retrieved on December 12, 2019.
5. ↑ Weiss, Dan (1 June 2016). Review: Big Thief Are Halfway to a Low-Strung 'Masterpiece'. *Spin*. Retrieved on July 8, 2016.
6. ↑ Masterpiece. *Metacritic*. Retrieved on July 9, 2016.
7. ↑ Boilen, Bob (19 May 2016). Review: Big Thief, 'Masterpiece'. *NPR*. Retrieved on July 8, 2016.
8. ↑ Mapes, Jillian (6 June 2016). Masterpiece Review. *Pitchfork Media*. Retrieved on July 8, 2016.
9. ↑ Christgau, Robert (8 July 2016). Car Seat Headrest, the Julie Ruin, and Drugs. *Vice*. Retrieved on July 8, 2016.
10. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
11. ↑ Big Thief Announce New Album Capacity, Share New "Mythological Beauty" Video: Watch | Pitchfork (en).
12. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
13. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
14. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
15. ↑ Big Thief announce new album, U.F.O.F., share title track: Stream (en) (2019-02-26).
16. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
17. ↑ Big Thief: U.F.O.F. (en).
18. ↑ The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s (en).
19. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
20. ↑ Charts.
21. ↑ Photos: Big Thief at the Fonda Theatre (en) (2019-05-03).
22. ↑ 5 Takeaways from the 2020 Grammy Nominations (en).
23. ↑ Two Hands (Vinyl) BIG THIEF. JB Hi-Fi.
24. ↑ Archived copy.
25. ↑ Adrienne Lenker.
26. ↑ Minsker, Evan (August 10, 2021). Big Thief Share New Songs "Little Things" and "Sparrow": Listen.
27. ↑ Big Thief: 'Little Things / Sparrow' (August 10, 2021).
28. ↑ Legaspi, Althea (2021-09-07). Big Thief's New Song 'Certainty' Was Recorded Using a Cigarette Lighter (en-US).
29. ↑ Big Thief share dreamy new single 'Change' and North American tour dates (en-GB) (2021-10-06).
30. ↑ **Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".**
31. ↑ Brodsky, Rachel (October 4, 2021). Big Thief Prep Double LP For 2022.
32. ↑ Big Thief: '*Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You*' (November 16, 2021).
33. ↑ Found In Sound; An Interview with James Krivchenia of Big Thief (November 22, 2017).
34. ↑ Big Thief Chart History: Billboard 200. *Billboard*.
35. ↑ Peaks in Australia:

	* For all except noted: Big Thief albums. Australian Recording Industry Association / Australian-charts. Retrieved on March 8, 2022.
	* For *Two Hands*: ARIA Chart Watch #547. auspOp (October 19, 2019).
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 36.5 Discografie Big Thief. Ultratop. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
37. ↑ Discografie Big Thief. Ultratop. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
38. ↑ Discographie Big Thief. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved on February 18, 2022.
39. ↑ Discography Big Thief. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
40. ↑ Discografie Big Thief. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
41. ↑ Peaks in Scotland:

	* *U.F.O.F.*: 2019-05-10 Top 100 Scottish Albums Archive. Official Charts Company. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
	* *Two Hands*: 2019-10-18 Top 100 Scottish Albums Archive. Official Charts Company. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
	* *Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You*: 2022-02-18 Top 100 Scottish Albums Archive. Official Charts Company.
42. ↑ Discography Big Thief. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
43. ↑ Big Thief UK Charts. Official Charts Company. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Big Thief Chart History: Heatseekers Albums. *Billboard*. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
45. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
46. ↑ Big Thief – Chart History: Adult Alternative Airplay. *Billboard*.
47. ↑ Masterpiece - Single by Big Thief on Apple Music. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
48. ↑ Mother - Single by Big Thief on Apple Music. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
49. ↑ Dandelion - Single by Big Thief on Apple Music. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
50. ↑ Mythological Beauty - Single by Big Thief on Apple Music. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
51. ↑ Shark Smile - Single by Big Thief on Apple Music. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
52. ↑ Big Thief – "Mary". Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
53. ↑ Big Thief – "UFOF". Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
54. ↑ Big Thief – "Cattails". Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
55. ↑ Big Thief drops melodic and laidback new single "Century": Stream. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
56. ↑ Big Thief – "Forgotten Eyes". Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
57. ↑ Love in Mine - Single by Big Thief on Apple Music. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
58. ↑ Off You - Single by Big Thief on Apple Music. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
59. ↑ Little Things/Sparrow - Single by Big Thief on Apple Music. Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
60. ↑ Hussey, Allison (September 7, 2021). Big Thief Share New Song "Certainty": Listen.
61. ↑ Minsker, Evan (October 6, 2021). Big Thief Announce 2022 North American Tour, Share New Song "Change": Listen.
62. ↑ Darville, Jordan (November 16, 2021). Big Thief share "Time Escaping," announce new album (en).
63. ↑ Minsker, Evan (December 14, 2021). Big Thief Share New Songs "No Reason" and "Spud Infinity": Listen.
64. ↑ Hussey, Allison (January 19, 2022). Big Thief Reschedule European Tour, Share New Song "Simulation Swarm".
65. ↑ Best Alternative Music Album | 2020 GRAMMYs (en) (2019-11-19).
66. ↑ 2021 2021 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Winners & Nominees List (en-US).
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## External links

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