Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Its members are Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia. All four members of Big Thief attended the Berklee College of Music, but only formed a group after each had graduated. The band's first album, Masterpiece, was released on Saddle Creek Records on May 27, 2016. On April 4, 2017, Big Thief premiered a new single, "Mythological Beauty," on NPR. The following day, the band released the single's official video and confirmed that the song would appear on their next LP, Capacity. The full album was released on June 9 via Saddle Creek. In 2019, Big Thief released two albums and several singles. In the lead up to their third album, U.F.O.F., the band released three singles, U.F.O.F", "Cattails", and "Century." The album was released on May 3, 2019. The band's fourth album, Two Hands'', was later released on October 11, 2019. Its release was preceded by the singles "Not" and "Forgotten Eyes." Both albums received critical acclaim.
History
''Masterpiece'' (2016)
The band's first album received generally favorable reviews from critics; it has a rating of 79/100 on Metacritic. Bob Boilen wrote for NPR 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 and said that the songs on the album "sound cherry-picked over a lifetime of writing". Robert Christgau described its songs as "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, a pop band with a broken heart's pulse, and a classic, buzzy indie-rock outfit."
''Capacity'' (2017)
Capacity, the band's second album, received critical acclaim upon its release. At 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 and last year's Masterpiece 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.
''U.F.O.F.'' (2019)
U.F.O.F., the band's third 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., "UFOF" as well a new tour across America and 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 received "Best New Music" by Pitchfork, scoring a 9.2, and also 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 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 the Best Alternative Music Album for the 2020 Grammy Awards.
Big Thief released their fourth 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".
