At the beginning of August, when the sun was beaming bright with summer heat, Big Thief returned with a couple new singles. It was the first inkling that the band was onto something new since their 2019 albums Two Hands and U.F.O.F. As the seasons change, the four-piece is still releasing new singles. The latest one—most fitting for the drop in temperature—is titled “Change.”
This humble track, accompanied by soft drums and gentle acoustic guitars, details the shifts, transitions, and contrasts that make up the movement of life. Adrianne Lenker sings softly about changes in the natural world—shifts in the air, the movement of water, the wrinkles and imperfections that appear on our skin—and then highlights the ultimate change: death. “Death like a door to a place we’ve never been before,” she offers thoughtfully.
“Change” is a poetic exercise in embracing life’s shiftiness. Death doesn’t have to be the end, and the dissolution of a relationship doesn’t make its impact any less significant. Big Thief have a knack for letting their music guide listeners into the uncertainty with a gentle hand.
The new single, which you can hear below, also comes with the news of their North American spring tour—check out dates here.
