Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

out Feb. 11, 2022

https://bigthief.bandcamp.com/album/dragon-new-warm-mountain-i-believe-in-you?from=fanpub_fb

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a sprawling double-LP exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief. To truly dig into all that the music of Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia desired in 2020, the band decided to write and record a rambling account of growth as individuals, musicians, and chosen family over 4 distinct recording sessions. In Upstate New York, Topanga Canyon, The Rocky Mountains, and Tucson, Arizona, Big Thief spent 5 months in creation and came out with 45 completed songs. The most resonant of this material was edited down into the 20 tracks that make up DNWMIBIY, a fluid and adventurous listen. The album was produced by drummer James Krivchenia who initially pitched the recording concept for DNWMIBIY back in late 2019 with the goal of encapsulating the many different aspects of Adrianne’s songwriting and the band onto a single record.

In an attempt to ease back into life as Big Thief after a long stretch of Covid-19 related isolation, the band met up for their first session in the woods of upstate New York. They started the process at Sam Evian’s Flying Cloud Recordings, recording on an 8-track tape machine with Evian at the knobs. It took a while for the band to realign and for the first week of working in the studio, nothing felt right. After a few un-inspired takes the band decided to take an ice-cold dip in the creek behind the house before running back to record in wet swimsuits. That cool water blessing stayed with Big Thief through the rest of the summer and many more intuitive, recording rituals followed. It was here that the band procured ‘Certainty’ and ‘Sparrow’.

For the next session in Topanga Canyon, California, the band intended to explore their bombastic desires and lay down some sonic revelry in the experimental soundscape-friendly hands of engineer Shawn Everett. Several of the songs from this session lyrically explore the areas of Lenker’s thought process that she describes as “unabashedly as psychedelic as I naturally think,” including ‘Little Things’, which came out of this session. The prepared acoustic guitars and huge stomp beat of today’s ‘Time Escaping’ create a matching, otherworldly backdrop for the subconscious dream of timeless, infinite mystery. When her puppy Oso ran into the vocal booth during the final take of the song, Adrianne looked down and spoke “It’s Music!” to explain in the best terms possible the reality of what was going on to the confused dog. “It’s Music Oso!”

The third session, high in the Colorado Rockies, was set up to be a more traditional Big Thief recording experience, working with UFOF and Two Hands engineer Dom Monks. Monks' attentiveness to song energies and reverence for the first take has become a huge part of the magic of Thief’s recent output. One afternoon in the castle-like studio, the band was running through a brand new song ‘Change’ for the first time. Right when they thought it might be time to do a take, Monks came out of the booth to let them know that he’d captured the practice and it was perfect as it was.  

The final session, in hot-as-heaven Tucson, Arizona, took place in the home studio of Scott McMicken. The several months of recording had caught up to Big Thief at this point so, in order to bring in some new energy, they invited long-time friend Mat Davidson of Twain to join. This was the first time that Big Thief had ever brought in a 5th instrumentalist for such a significant contribution. His fiddle, and vocals weave a heavy presence throughout the Tucson tracks. If the album's main through-line is its free-play, anything-is-possible energy, then this environment was the perfect spot to conclude its creation — filling the messy living room with laughter, letting the fire blaze in the backyard, and ripping spontaneous, extended jams as trains whistled outside. 

All 4 of these sessions, in their varied states of fidelity, style, and mood, when viewed together as one album seem to stand for a more honest, zoomed-out picture of lived experience than would be possible on a traditional, 12 song record. This was exactly what the band hoped would be the outcome of this kind of massive experiment. When Max’s mom asked on a phone call what it feels like to be back together with the band playing music for the first time in a year, he described to the best of abilities: “Well it’s like, we’re a band, we talk, we have different dynamics, we do the breaths, and then we go on stage and suddenly it feels like we are now on a dragon. And we can’t really talk because we have to steer this dragon.”

excited in a vague melancholy way

dang, "time escaping" really pops for a song with no bass!

Regular readers of these threads will know that I've been obsessed w/"Time Escaping" since the concert footage on YouTube last year, and have been waiting for this moment. This recording is... very different from what I was expecting! But I like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkIvGej2WyI

wow the studio version of "time escaping" is really quite different, that's a wild sound. it's great though.

crazy to think there could easily be another double album coming after this with all the material they recorded.

i don't think they've played full-band versions of "heavy bend" and "the only place", and i don't think "no reason" and "love love love" have been heard at all

though there aren't good bootlegs out there of all the songs they have been playing but based on what's out there this album's going to be at least 90% fantastic

Recent video of Adrianne performing Time Escaping

I like the album version, it's cool. I'm struggling a little with the newest material overall so far (and also with that album title!) I feel like they've gone in an extremely stonery direction that I don't know if I love.

xp

"i'm actually imagining this part being really big, in my head"
:D

i'm also worried that the very hippie band who recently released an album that was short for "UFO Friend" might have discovered marijuana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C_ax0XYn1E

here's the early 2020 live version of "time escaping" for anyone who's curious

It's music! :)

Change 4:55
Time Escaping 3:48
Spud Infinity 5:34
Certainty 3:07
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You 4:43
Sparrow 5:11
Little Things 5:44
Heavy Bend 1:36
Flower of Blood 4:24
Blurred View 4:06
Red Moon 4:19
Dried Roses 2:35
No Reason 3:47
Wake Me Up to Drive 3:43
Promise Is a Pendulum 5:12
12,000 Lines 2:59
Simulation Swarm 4:12
Love Love Love 4:13
The Only Place 3:14
Blue Lightning 3:51

here's track times

They're obviously hippies, but (not to split hairs) I don't really get a "stoner" vibe from this era... it's more focused, conscious, and "present" than that.

The final verse of "Time Escaping" knocks me out:

Only the winter wind survives
After the heat rush feeds and thrives
After the bushfire burns and dies
Frozen and bitter
Desert ground so cold and clean
Spreading out like a magazine
Reading the dirt like gossip
What do the weeds say? They say
“Everything, everything, everything falls through
Each dimension breaks in two
Like the two hands clapping
Like the two wings flapping
Everything, everything, everything for free
As it all eventually
Turns to dust and petal
Molten rock and meadow"

i have always been lukewarm on this band but i like all these songs and am now officially stoked for this long-ass album

love that there is a new thread for this new album, really looking forward to this

just watched a couple of live videos

they all just fit together so well. the four of them, i mean.

I'm pretty lukewarm on most of the new songs released so far but I like the studio Time Escaping more and more. Hope there is more stuff like that that goes in interesting new sonic directions and not just the woodsy folksy stuff like Change (which is not *bad* but seems a bit by the numbers).

No Reason / Spud Infinity are out now

some beautiful guitar in "No Reason"

"no reason" is so gorgeous wow

love the flute

I listened to these tracks like 5 times in row this morning... can't wait for the album, it's gonna be so great!

"no reason", "little things" and "time escaping" all some of the very very best things they've ever done

Best working band right now

Going thru the tracknoms rn and Time Escaping is....wild? And kinda great? Reminds me of when Wilco do something weird, like Art Of Almost or something

i think 'american radiohead' works better for big thief (though still obviously pretty silly) than it ever did for wilco

I think they are on the REM track and they are just coming out of their IRS years

is that to suggest this will be their “Green”?

the coda of "no reason" really takes it to the next level. while "spud infinity" is good but absolutely a minute too long

I think “Spud Infinity” is an amazing song… that juxtaposition of the earthy and the abstract, right there in the title, is beautifully realized in the lyric.

I'm at a loss on how to describe/characterize these new songs... they're "cosmic Americana" in a certain way, but not in a way that usually fits that definition (and I wouldn't necessarily RIYL them along those lines). They're intense, joyful, lucid meditations on nature, time, and reality; using Americana as a vehicle, but not at all contstrained by what that term normally entails.

is that to suggest this will be their “Green”?

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, December 16, 2021 bookmarkflaglink

yes, possibly!

this is the best this band has ever sounded, to me

(besides "Not")

TE >>> Not imo

i've listened to "little things" so many times. now when i'm having a beer i like to sing "drinking a beeeeer" to myself

Haha, me too :)

Yeah, maybe ... TE > Not ... maybe Little Things, too. i didn't necessarily mean forever, just that i've listened to Not a thousand times and these haven't had a chance to overtake it yet.

i didn't say that, but i was thinking it ... or something

collectively, though, i love these songs

“Spud Infinity” reminds me of Michael Hurley. Fantastic.

"little things", "time escaping" & "no reason" all > "not", as good as "not" is

I was just forwarded this (haven't read it yet): https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/big-thief-new-album-adrianne-lenker-interview-1272814/

it's a good read, most interesting tidbits are that "wake me up to drive" is "drum-machine pop" (which makes sense actually revisiting the live version) & they directly suggest that there could be another album's worth of material to be released from the dragon sessions

!!

they were already hinting that it was a possibility in a previous interview (45 songs were recorded so it could even be another double), just a bit more here

Through it all, the band held on to a firm internal sense of self. “We all have our own Big Thief-i-ness barometers,” says Krivchenia. “We did some stuff that, listening back to it, we were like, ‘Wow, people would flip if they heard this… but it’s not Big Thief-y.'”

Aw… don’t do me like that, man

japanese version has two bonus tracks, "dragon new warm mountain i believe in you (tucson version)" and "light is as is". the tucson sessions were where they recorded the album's rootsier material so i imagine it'll be quite a different take on "dragon"

I am very much hoping that 2022 is the year I get to see Big Thief live. None of the currently announced dates are anywhere near me, but maybe there will be more ...

Through it all, the band held on to a firm internal sense of self. “We all have our own Big Thief-i-ness barometers,” says Krivchenia. “We did some stuff that, listening back to it, we were like, ‘Wow, people would flip if they heard this… but it’s not Big Thief-y.'”

Aw… don’t do me like that, man

― i woke up alarmed (morrisp), Friday, January 7, 2022 12:27 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is such an important part of being a good band

"Simulation Swarm" is out now. Sounds a little like something off U.F.O.F., with a country turn in the chorus.

so good, love the fretless bass

A message from Adrianne, Buck, James, and Max -
After many beautiful years together, Max is no longer in Big Thief. Our love for each other is infinite, and we are so grateful for all we have shared these many years together since the beginning of our journey as a band. We wouldn’t be who we are without Max. This separation marks the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one for Big Thief.
This change was made for interpersonal reasons with mutual respect in our hearts. It’s a big change for us and the four of us ask for your trust, respect, and care as we grow into the next chapter of our lives.
xo Big Thief

ah damn

it's not hard to infer that it's probably over israel/palestine and if so it's surely for the best, but it's still a shame. they're briefly touring again in a few weeks so i wonder who they've found to replace him. it'll be big shoes to fill given his absurd talent and distinct style

reports from their first show without max are that they played almost entirely new material & also had a second drummer in addition to a new bassist

"terrifying" is the new song people seem most excited about but no recordings have surfaced yet, hopefully some will before too long

Ooh exciting! Do we know who the new players are?

second drummer? let the jams-formation begin

the bassist is apparently justin felton who has played guitar with l'rain, but no details on the second drummer yet

some clips:

a new arrangement of "words":
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9_2F5RR-TE/

"no fear":
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9_ptjDxxyC/

apparently the new material ranges from mellow americana to jammy rock songs including a 12-minute one

clip of "space and time":

https://www.instagram.com/new_injuries/reel/C9_2excxx1G/

"all night all day"

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigthief/comments/1ef9806/one_of_my_favorite_moments_from_their_set_last/

clips of most of the new songs here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3vTq6RELDM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUoCYlM8r9g

more of "grandmother"

second drummer is reportedly jon nellen, who's played with nick hakim before

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

most of "los angeles"

xp - yeah they just posted on Insta that Justin Felton and Jon Nellen will be playing on their tour

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigthief/comments/1egtl28/missed_the_first_few_seconds_but_heres_another/

full recording of "grandmother" is nearly 7 minutes! it rules

gonna turn it all into rock & roll!

a lot more full recordings of new songs now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSMoz6XZzlY

"terrifying" (kinda math rock-y!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2ckkBAROPc

"muscle memory"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pFdtnVa-mU

"space and time"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2NaAz3GR6M

"more than anything"

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

full show with a bunch more new songs

oh this absolute diva pic.twitter.com/hJL3dxMnp9

— lia 🚀 (@beeefyfridgers) August 7, 2024

ngl, I would totally listen to a Big Thief 2024 song called "Friends 4ever 4 A Day"

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

that whole album's on youtube, it's from 2006 when she was 14 and is nearly completely unrecognisable as her. a few songs are written by her dad & a bunch are co-written with him. it's got nothing on her later work (the lyrics in particular are lacking) but it's remarkably accomplished

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqxSRdVvgH8

there's also this follow-up EP of tracks from a second album (no idea if it ever got a release) that's a bit more recognisable as her

Influences
Bjork, The Cranberries, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Nora Jones, Annie Lennox Sarah Mclaughlin, Pat Metheny, Six-pence non the richer, Switchfoot
Sounds Like
Vocals: Leigh Nash meets Nora Jones meets Jewel meets Sheryl Crow. Guitar: Emiliana Torrini meets Elliott Smith meets Jewel meets Pat Metheny. Writing Style: Depth of Jewel, Feel of Rachel Yamagata & Sheryl Crow, Edge of Switchfoot.

from her myspace bio at the time

oh her dad is in the youtube comments saying the full second album never got a release lol

I drunkenly purchased Stages of the Sun when it showed up on Discogs. For an embarrassing sum.

As soon as I bought it, another showed up from the same seller. And another. Dude has a case of them somehow. Maybe rescued them from the dump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd-67cMpnjA

another new song!

Someone on the Big Thief subreddit has uploaded a full concert soundboard quality recording from a recent gig in Sweden

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigthief/s/6ODLU0cs2B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4hxQ4xpidg

it's from this video. quite a few of the new songs, but this version of "simulation swarm" doesn't quite work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEjLF6wrW5I

yet another new song, "taker" (not "hand through table", that's the one from two days ago but this video has the title mixed up)

Another good one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t34LAtkD_Vs

full recording of "hand through table"

According to setlist.fm they have played 14 new tracks on this summer tour so far, surely this must mean the new album is coming soon, right? Right?

they're probably recording sometime in the next two months, their last tour date is later this week and adrianne doesn't go back on tour until november. it doesn't seem like they've recorded an album yet, the arrangements for the new material have been shifting around a bit, they're still figuring them out.

on top of the 14 new songs they've played live this year, there's another 10 unreleased songs that adrianne's played live this year solo, and a bunch more they were playing on tour in 2022/2023.

not to mention the supposed other double album's worth of material recorded during the dragon sessions

i'm not sure if they're going to release that but they said last year it was still a possibility they'd put it out as a stopgap release

they're finally recording at the moment and there's a tiny snippet of a song here: https://www.instagram.com/bigthiefmusic/reel/DFYzteKRb2c/

word is they've brought in laraaji to play on the new album too

I never got into this album, but I'm obsessed with 'Blurred View' after watching this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZZB4wy91Lc

Would that the whole album sounded like this.

https://store.bigthief.net/collections/featured/products/big170002-passional-relations-ep-digital-download

new outtakes ep as a la fires benefit, mostly from the dwnmibiy sessions

these outtakes are lovely to hear, but still it's pretty easy to understand why none made an album

"imagination" is the best thing here just for the feedback section in the middle

"light as light" was already released as "light is as is" on the japanese release of dnwmibiy, maybe they forgot about that lol?

the vocal production "waiting on blue" combined with the organ is really nice

the full band of "zombie girl" is nice but it's not better than the solo version on songs, the band don't really manage to add much to it

"shadow too" seems to be a pre-ufof/two hands demo (they played it live a few times in 2018)

Feels like a lifetime since New Warm Dragon came out

Change / Because I Got High bootleg

sounds like we might be getting new album news next week

it turned out that was just the (all-time great) adrianne lenker live album, but it looks like "incomprehensible" might be the first single from the big thief album

https://www.stereogum.com/2310001/big-thief-tease-new-music-with-incomprehensible-posters-in-nyc/news/

album announcement & presumably "incomprehensible" are coming tomorrow

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

this might be the cover

the title might be 'double infinity'

Tomorrow is the announcement of our new album!!! This photograph was taken by the extraordinary Genesis Báez pic.twitter.com/TUOkFai9Se

— Big Thief (@bigthiefmusic) June 2, 2025

Oh my!

yeah baby

the title might be 'double infinity'

no spud in the photo is kind of a letdown

potato times potato equals lime everyone knows that

i'm assuming the lime is a reference to "no fear" which goes "there is no time, round like a lime, destiny"