Big Thief – Capacity

Barely a year after releasing one of 2016’s best debut albums, Big Thief have a new record that gives us a clearer idea of what this band is up to. Capacity discards many of the group’s more obvious alt-rock gestures, yielding an album simultaneously mellow and feral. On  “Shark Smile,” peals of guitar reverb and falling drums frame a supple, intimate tune, unsettling the listener even as singer/guitarist Adrianne Lenker emotes a plaintive coo.

Whereas second albums often showcase a band “playing together” with greater rapport and instrumental presence, Capacity sounds very much like frontwoman Lenker’s show, her charisma and musical direction dominating the album. Singing often in a subdued registers, Lenker draws listeners into her obsessive, occasionally scary scenarios; her highly idiosyncratic world comes into view through evidently simple tunes like “Mythological Beauty.”

Capacity may ask patience of some listeners before it reveals its secrets. It may appear a “quieter” album than Big Thief’s debut, but this collection of sly, decentered compositions isn’t contented to serve as NPR-demographic dinner music. I suspect it shouldn’t necessarily be taken as evidence of Big Thief’s “emerging” sound. Capacity is a curveball of a sophomore record from a band charting the long arc of a major musical career.

Capacity is out today on Saddle Creek Records.

BIG THIEF ON TOUR FOREVER:
Fri. June 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade NYC
Sat. June 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Park Church Co-Op w/ Twain
Thu. June 22 – Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston w/ Twain
Sat. June 24 – North Adams, MA @ Solid Sound Festival
Tue. June 27 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le “Ritz” P.D.B. w/ Twain
Wed. June 28 – Toronto, ON @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern w/ Twain
Thu. June 29 – Buffalo, NY @ Traif MusicHall w/ Twain
Fri. June 30 – Toledo, OH @ Ottawa Tavern w/ Twain
Sat. July 1 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe w/ Twain
Sun. July 2 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
Mon. July 3 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon w/ Twain
Wed. July 5 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center w/ Twain
Fri. July 7 – Sun. July 9 – Winnipeg, MB @ Winnipeg Folk Festival
Mon. July 10 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium w/ Twain
Tue. July 11 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews w/ Twain
Wed. July 12 – St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House w/ Twain
Thu. July 13 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room – Outside w/ Conor Oberst
Fri. July 14 – Springfield, MO @ Gillioz Theatre w/ Conor Oberst
Fri. July 14 – Sun. July 16 – Louisville KY @ Forecastle Festival
Mon. July 17 – Chicago, IL @ Millennium Park w/ Overcoats
Thu. July 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Celebrate Brooklyn! w/ Conor Oberst, Hop Along
Sat. July 22 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF Festival
Fri. July 28 – Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival
Sat. July 29 – Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion w/ The Head and the Heart
Sun. July 30 – Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point w/ Wilco
Fri. Aug. 4 & Sat. Aug. 5 – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon Festival
Tue. Aug. 8 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre w/ Belle and Sebastian
Sat. Aug. 12 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out West Festival
Mon. Aug. 14 – Antwerp, BE @ Rivierenhof Theater w/ Conor Oberst, M. Ward
Tue. Aug. 15 – Frankfurt, DE @ Batchkapp w/ Conor Oberst
Wed. Aug. 16 – Erlangen, DE @ E-Werk w/ Conor Oberst
Thu. Aug. 17 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg w/ Conor Oberst
Fri. Aug. 18 – London, UK @ Koko w/ Conor Oberst
Sat. Aug. 19 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
Sun. Aug. 20 – Stirling, UK @ Doune the Rabbit Hole
Mon. Aug. 21 – Liverpool, UK @ Academy w/ Conor Oberst
Tue. Aug. 22 – Glasgow, UK @ ABC w/ Conor Oberst
Thu. Sep. 7 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival
Fri. Sep. 8 – Richmond, VA @ The National w/ Lucy Dacus
Sat. Sep. 9 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat w/ Lucy Dacus
Wed. Sep. 13 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts w/ Lucy Dacus
Thu. Sep. 14 – Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt w/ Lucy Dacus
Fri. Sep. 15 – Ottawa, ON @ CityFolk
Tue. Sep. 19 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theater
Wed. Sep. 20 – Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s
Thu. Sep. 21 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Fri. Sep. 22 – Champaign, IL @ Pygmalion Music Festival
Sat. Sep. 23 – Holland, MI @ Hope College – Park Theater
Sun. Sep. 24 – Fort Wayne, IN @ The Brass Rail
Mon. Sep. 25 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
Tue. Sep. 26 – Little Rock, AR @ Sticky Fingerz
Thu. Sep. 28 – Houston, TX @ The Secret Group
Fri. Sep. 29 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Sat. Sep. 30 – Dallas, TX @ Three Links
Mon. Oct. 2 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
Tue. Oct. 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar
Sat. Oct. 7 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
Mon. Oct. 9 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Tue. Oct. 10 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
Thu. Oct. 12 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
Fri. Oct. 13 – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
Sat. Oct. 14 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi Fi
Tue. Oct. 24 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotov Sky Bar
Wed. Oct. 25 – Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhagen Jazzhouse
Thu. Oct. 26 – Berlin, DE @ Privatclub
Sun. Oct. 29 – Kortrijk, BE @ De Kreun
Wed. Nov. 1 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
Thu. Nov. 2 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds
Fri. Nov. 3 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
Sat. Nov. 4 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK @ Think Tank
Wed. Nov. 8 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Thu. Nov. 9 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
Sun. Nov. 12 – Nijmegen, NL @ Merleyn
Mon. Nov. 13 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown