This is an extensive double album in which Big Thief are so tuned and locked into each other as a collective unit, that it feels like all they must do is turn on their tap and let the wonder of their sound pour forth unrelentingly. They are the premier folk-rock band of our time and furthermore, a band that have been astoundingly prolific over the past seven years and yet they can still put out a collection of twenty songs like this without any dips in quality. Big Thief sail effortlessly across musical styles, this record has distinct echoes of Americana, Country, Psych-Blues and dusty Folk balladry but the core facility that surely marks them out as one of the greats is in how they retain at all times that core essence of Big Thief sound. They are one of a small number of acts who, no matter what type of song they perform, you know instantly the band playing thanks to that unique sound and the individualistic approach of the characters making up the group.

They perform that way as well, rarely have a band looked so on a wavelength, not unlike a four headed, eight-legged beast, there is some invisible force binding them together. Even band photos look unusually close, the body language is all pointing to how intimately connected these four are, in most other occupations that kind of open touchy-feely-ness could be a bit vomit inducing but with Big Thief we have the music as reward to overshadow such in-your-face communion. Across the whole sprawling set heart wrenching moments are tempered by flashes of outright playfulness, just check out ‘Spud Infinity’ for proof of this with its hillbilly goofiness and what might be an elastic band being plucked throughout. Still, the emotive segments are so powerful that you need a bit of relief, we are dropped into one such moment at the outset with the classic-sounding ‘Change’ and its asking “would you live forever never die why everything around passes?” It is a song that appears to recall the days when a relationship, now shattered, was in full bloom yearning for lost irretrievable moments. It is a solid example of why Adrianne Lenker is so rated as a songwriter in the American folk tradition. However, what most of this album proves decisively is with the expressive range of Big Thief surrounding her she taps into her writing potential most potently.

Across all four sides there are recurring highlights, in fact the hit rate is indecently high considering the large amount of music overflowing from these grooves. The title track floats by like a summer days mountainside dream whereas something like ‘Time Escaping’ is positively crashing with energy. The strength with Big Thief is in how they can push all the buttons that the greatest bands can. What I mean by that is there are certain acts who you turn to for specific moods or needs, be it rocking out or diving into something demanding a little time and concentration. Then there are bands like Coldplay who are there for people no longer bothered what they listen to as long as it slots in inoffensively. But the greatest bands of all time, the Beatles and Velvet Undergrounds and R.E.M.s of this world can do it all, make you laugh, cry, dance, sing, think and colour your life in a thousand separate ways; Big Thief have fast become a band working to that high standard. They are one of the greatest musical things happening today, an absolute classic four piece doing their own thing and developing in ways that are impossible to measure; Big Thief are happening right now and anyone choosing to bathe in their genius is doing themselves a massive favour.

Buy a vinyl copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/22078948-Big-Thief-Dragon-New-Warm-Mountain-I-Believe-In-You