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

(...saw for "Vampire Empire," to clarify)

...except for that bit about Elliot Smith.

(haha, I was willing to let that go)

never followed this band but listened to the newly released song followed by the performance on Colbert.

the studio version is better. her vocal performance is stronger on it. the flute doesn't really add anything except that it makes the guitar sound craggier in relation. it feels extraneous.

suspect people only prefer the Colbert version because it's familiar.

maybe i should listen to this band idk. i don't usually like straight up indie rock but Lenker seems like she has more to offer.

They really need to ignore this kind of shit.

younger bands are bad at ignoring stuff, and what's more, they can get press for responding, so they usually do.

honestly the biggest problem with all versions of this song is i can’t stop hearing “empty tushy fills, alive tushy kills”

Hahaha, I didn't wanna say it....

sounding wonderful on the p4k stream and generously playing a ton of new material

lmao what the hell is this vocal effect on "spud infinity"

james is doing pitched-up autotune harmonies on it and it is deeply bizarre

I was there in person and I dunno what you are talking about. Great set.

it was very clear in the stream audio, in the right channel only

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgwBsusfEI0

this'll probably get taken down at some point, but "spud infinity" is at 1:17:45 if you want to hear the goofy vocal effects.

other highlights are an acoustic "words" (0:00), born for loving you (17:40), "seam" and "free treasure" (48:20), and "happiness" (1:06:00)

I'm all for the wacky outfits, but I would draw the line at a mermaid's tail. No mermaid's tail or gtfo, guy.

https://soundcloud.com/97tlr/forgiver

thinking about this 10 minute version of unreleased track "black crow" (aka "forgiver") where they go fully crazy horse

i haven't seen the colbert version but i just listened to the new "vampire empire" on spotify and it seems good? seems like a song that could have been on the last album maybe with a bit of two hands era

the whole online thing w/this band is really weird, seems like a band to just listen to and never talk about on social media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8fQGCc_O18

gorgeous sprawling new song

Wonderful, yeah

Another one from Buck Meek's alb, out 8/25:

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

Classic Country style: you open for, then play with the Big Star er Thief

Buck Meek - Live at The Studio at The Factory, Deep Ellum, Dallas, TX 2/12/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-PSK8U6DfM

yas?

an American musician from Wimberley, Texas, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of Big Thief.

#buckmeek

00:00 Cannonball! Pt. 2
04:40 Haunted Mountain
09:58 Pareidolia
14:33 Where You're Coming From
18:53 Second Sight
24:05 Paradise
27:41 Secret Life
32:20 The Undae Dunes
34:54 Stories
40:30 Sam Bridges (with Adrianne Lenker)

Just now learned that he plays in Shadow Kingdom. Main way now to see it seems to be on pbs.org, though you gotta sign up and get that Passport app (get to watch a lot of other, of course). I saw it during fundraiser (they didn't interrupt with membership pitches): mostly real good, with a few that sounded too slow on the audio-only (now CD/LP)improved by visuals; all the guitar is good for sure.

Sign up and donate, that is. I'm a noob to all this, didn't know about Two Saviors (& wasn't he invited to be on My Rough and Rowdy Ways?
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/big-thiefs-buck-meek-announces-new-album-two-saviors-shares-second-sight/

As it turns out, he didn’t actually play on Shadow Kingdom, though he was one of the musicians that “finger synched” in the video recording along with the previously recorded tracks:

Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Alex Burke, guitar (Finger synching)
Buck Meek, guitar (Finger synching)
Shahzad Ismaily, accordion (Finger synching)
Janie Cowan, upright bass (Finger synching)
Joshua Crumbly, guitar (Finger synching)

The actual recording personnel, though not listed anywhere, is believed to have been:

Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Jeff Taylor – accordion
Greg Leisz – guitar, pedal steel guitar, mandolin
Tim Pierce – guitar
T-Bone Burnett – guitar
Ira Ingber – guitar
Don Was – upright bass
John Avila – electric bass
Doug Lacy – accordion
Steve Bartek – additional acoustic guitar

Weird. Thanks!

Whaaaat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1lnubtQvOQ

this "dragon" is fantastic but lmao they're really into those goofy autotune backing vocals right now huh

looking forward to the next album going full bon iver

What a strange effect… is James triggering/playing that somehow? Yeah the performance is awesome though.

(I offered to buy my dad tickets to that show, but admission was GA only and that didn’t really work)

james' backing vocals are being fed through a bunch of effects including autotune yeah

i'm seeing them friday evening, will report back on goofy autotune use

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPwd8iJ1uhM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILvivIkUic8

seems like they were in a really jammy mood at that show

They are some excellent performances, thanks for sharing

The way the crowd cheers when the first jaw harp note is struck on "Spud"...

I'd like to post the lyrics that someone transcribed for that "Real House" song (above), b/c they're just so good:

* * *

Do you remember running?
The purity of the air around
Braiding low branches into a crown
That love is all I want

I'm a child humming
Into the purity of the black space
Where stars shine like tears on the night's face
In a cool wind

Mama, what happened?
Never thought we'd go this long
Now 31 and I don’t feel strong
And your love is all I want

When I was 7
I saw the first film that made me scared
And I thought of this whole world ending
I thought of dying unprepared

We moved into a real house
A wild field behind it
I wanted to be an inventor
Collected scraps to make a portal
I wanted so much for magic to be real

So many dreams of flying
Rising high over the crowd
And they go “oh man, look at her go”
And I go

Do you remember
Coming to the hospital when I was 14?
My friends all left me there spinning
Dad was angry and you saw everything
And you made me laugh as the nurses undressed me
You held my hand as they put the needle in me

I never saw you cry
Not until our dog died
And our whole family came back together
We held her body as they put the needle in her
And then I saw you cry
And then I saw you cry

Listening just now to "Vampire Empire," which has been released as a single. Great stuff, again.

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

it's a great song but this recording doesn't quite have the energy of some of the live versions, just a little bit more laid back

Not available in this hemisphere until it's officially Wednesday, but looking forward to hearing it.

...and it sounds really nice, as expected. Laid back, for sure.

Btw – a friend mentioned that fans on Reddit were upset at "Vampire Empire" not just for the absence of flute, but also removal of the boldface phrases below from the lyrics (when compared to the song as performed on Fallon and maybe other live settings):

I am empty 'til she fills, alive until she kills
In her vampire empire, I am the fish and she's my gills
Falling, yeah

(...)

Well, I walked into your dagger for the last time in a row
It's like trying to start a fire with matches in the snow
Where you can't seem to hold me, can't seem to let me go

I can see why Adrianne may have considered those bits to be awkward or unnecessary (e.g., what does "last time in a row" mean, exactly); though I understand how their removal makes for "incomplete rhymes." Anyway, I don't think the song suffers greatly without them...

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigthief/comments/16ihrhi/news_from_buck_about_big_thief/

some news:
-they plan for the next album they record to be 'violent, distorted and screamed' and don't expect the recent unreleased live songs to fit with the concept
-they're going to spend 6 months writing songs for that next album soon, and are taking a year off from touring
-new adrianne solo album coming soon
-they're still thinking about putting out some unreleased material (probably from the dwnmibyi sessions?) as a stop gap while they work on their next album

All cool… hope they do that last thing!

it sounds like we can probably expect the adrianne solo album in january or so

A little surprising they would decide on the sound of a new album before even writing it, let alone getting into the studio… from past interviews, I had the sense that they followed a much more “organic” method of finding each album’s particular voice.

they plan for the next album they record to be 'violent, distorted and screamed'

Lost Somewhere Between the New Warm Mountain and My Home

Today, Adrianne Lenker (of Big Thief) announces a new online songwriting workshop through School of Song. The course will be taught online via live Zoom lectures across 4 consecutive Sundays –– January 7th, January 14th, January 21st, and January 28 –– with 2 lecture sessions on each class day to accommodate different time zones: 11 AM PT and 6 PM PT. Recorded lectures will be available and sent out afterwards for those who are unable to attend at those times.

Every week, Adrianne will give a lecture on subjects specific to her songwriting process. Each class will result in a homework assignment to write a song using the techniques discussed in the lecture. In addition to the lectures, there will be weekly song-sharing sessions composed of peer review and an additional hour of live Q&A with Adrianne.

The cost of the workshop is $160 total, and a 20% discount is available for those who sign up with a friend. The deadline to sign up is Saturday, January 6th at 11:59 PM PT. The course is geared towards anyone with an interest in songwriting in general or Adrianne’s process in particular, from absolute beginners to seasoned songwriters. There are no prerequisites to sign up, but having an instrument that you know how to play a few chords on will be helpful if you want to complete the assignments.

Course Description:
In Adrianne Lenker's songwriting workshop, we will begin with the understanding that songs emerge from an ever-mysterious source within us – our subconscious, our inner child, magic, the universe. Our primary task as songwriters is to ensure this source remains unblocked and unhindered. This workshop will cover how Adrianne navigates this unblocking process throughout all facets of life to get back to the place where songs come from.

Building upon this open foundation, we delve into song craft, touching on key elements of Adrianne’s approach. We'll explore how open tunings can transform the guitar into a landscape of drones and bass lines, welcoming resonant melodies to emerge. We’ll consider how various guitar techniques (e.g. strummed cowboy chords, fingerpicking) affect the expression of the songwriter's identity. Lyrically, we'll examine the process of drawing from personal experiences to create lyrics that balance the specific with the universal. Throughout the workshop, students will learn to write lyrics that highlight the beauty and magic often overlooked in our daily existence, revealing the depth that lies beneath the veneer of the mundane.

Join us in January as Adrianne gives our community insight into her process. You will leave the course with several new original songs of your own, and with new connections to fellow songwriters all over the world.

For more information, contact: Jacob Daneman | Pitch Perfect PR -
jacob at pitchperfectpr.com

Buck Meek's album Haunted Mountain is quite different from Big Thief but very enjoyable. Title track is a favorite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv8uI2VXppA

first single from adrianne's new album out on tuesday

here's the single, "ruined"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iypx43W_YRg

it's lovely, interesting to hear her on piano. a rather different arrangement to the version big thief were playing earlier this year

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

lol whenever james does those autotuned pitch-shifted backing vocals it's so goofy

album is apparently bright future which means we can expect this will be on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTS83wW0Oa0