Some music sounds like it was always there, like it wasn’t made, like it just is.
Brooklyn-based Big Thief’s debut album, Masterpiece, came out in 2016. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is the band’s fifth studio album, released on 4AD today, and to my ears, mind, and heart, it’s so good I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desert. This is a double LP’s worth of prime cut sustenance fodder for the soul, music-making that floats like clouds over a more beautiful world.
From Dragon‘s liner notes:
The attempt to capture something deeper, wider, and full of mystery, points to the inherent spirit of Big Thief. Traces of this open-hearted, non-dogmatic faith can be felt through previous albums, but here on Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You lives the strongest testament to its existence.
Big Thief is Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums) with friend and guest Mat Davidson of Twain joining in on fiddle and vocals and they have hit their stride, sounding as tight-knit as any band (or Band) can, making music that’s communal in nature and as natural as breath. Dragon feels like its always been here, with Big Thief sounding free(r), the music more kaleidoscopic, more expansive, richer, deeper, and more fun, with lyrics that twist and turn with the equally viny melodies.
From “Simulation Swarm”:
From the 31st floor
Of the simulation swarm
With the drone of fluorescence
Flicker, fever, fill the form
With a warm gush
Now I wanna touch
Like we never could before
I’d fly to you tomorrow I’m not
Fighting in this war
I wanna drop my arms and take your arms
And walk you to the shore
I love Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. It makes me smile, sway, and swoon.