The human mind will do incredible things when you place it in different physical locations. This is the concept that Big Thief has explored in creating their newly announced album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. The band spent five months moving between Upstate New York, California’s Topanga Canyon, the Colorado Rockies, and then Tucson, Arizona, trying to capture the different facets of Adrianne Lenker’s songwriting and pinpointing the nuance of the band’s affecting sound.
They plucked 20 of the 45 songs from those sessions to appear on the new double LP, which comes out on February 11th and is produced by drummer James Krivchenia. The result not only aims to capture the essence of the band, but to also reflect the inspiration of each unique locale. For example, “Certainty” and “Sparrow” came from the sessions in grassy Upstate New York, whereas album opener “Change” was rooted in the the Rockies. “Little Things” and the newly released “Time Escaping” came out of the natural psychedelia of Topanga Canyon. According to Lenker, putting a finger on what defines the band is a group was a little more supernatural than expected, as she said in a statement:
“One of the things that bonds us together as a band is pure magic. I think we all have the same guide and none of us have ever spoken what it is because we couldn’t name it, but somehow, we are all going for the same thing, and when we hit it… we all know it’s it, but none of us to this day, or maybe ever, will be able to articulate in words what the ‘it’ is. Something about it is magic to me.”
Listen to “Time Escaping” above and check out the Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You album artwork and tracklist below, as well as Big Thief’s 2022 tour dates.
1. “Change”
2. “Time Escaping”
3. “Spud Infinity”
4. “Certainty”
5. “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You”
6. “Sparrow”
7. “Little Things”
8. “Heavy Bend”
9. “Flower Of Blood”
10. “Blurred View”
11. “Red Moon”
12. “Dried Roses”
13. “No Reason”
14. “Wake Me Up To Drive”
15. “Promise Is A Pendulum”
16. “12,000 Lines”
17. “Simulation Swarm”
18. “Love Love Love”
19. “The Only Place”
20. “Blue Lightning”
01/31/2022 — Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef
02/01/2022 — Paris, FR @ La Cigale
02/04/2022 — Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
02/05/2022 — Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo
02/07/2022 — Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur
02/08/2022 — Strasbourg, FR @ La Laiterie Artefact
02/09/2022 — Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten
02/10/2022 — Munich, DE @ Cafe Muffathalle
02/12/2022 — Prague, CZ @ MeetFactory
02/13/2022 — Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt
02/15/2022 — Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
02/16/2022 — Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik
02/18/2022 — Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall
02/19/2022 — Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal
02/21/2022 — Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli Vredgenburg
02/22/2022 — Groningen, NL @ De Oosterpoort
02/24/2022 — Manchester, GB @ Manchester Academy
02/25/2022 — Glasgow, GB @ Barrowland Ballroom
02/26/2022 — Dublin, IE @ The National Stadium
02/27/2022 — Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Bristol
03/02/2022 — London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
03/03/2022 — London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
03/04/2022 — London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
04/12/2022 — Ithaca, NY @ State Theatre
04/16/2022 — Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
04/18/2022 — Montreal, QUE @ L’Olympia
04/19/2022 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
04/21/2022 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
04/22/2022 — Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom
04/23/2022 — Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
04/25/2022 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
04/26/2022 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theater
04/27/2022 — St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
04/29/2022 — Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
04/30/2022 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
05/02/2022 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
05/03/2022 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
05/04/2022 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
05/07/2022 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
05/10/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
05/11/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
05/12/2022 — San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
05/14/2022 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
06/09/2022 — Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound 2022
06/10-12/2022 — Berlin, DE @ Tempelhof Sounds
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is out 02/11/22 via 4AD. Pre-order it here.