(4Ad, cassette, CD, digital, vinyl)
Big Thief have always been big. Not big in numbers, like the Polyphonic Spree, or household-name big, like Maroon 5, but big in their importance to the state of 21st-century indie rock since their formation in 2015.
Placed on a pedestal by exacting critics and ravenous audiences alike, the Berklee College of Music-bred, Brooklyn-born outfit has consistently been greater than the sum of its parts. Anyone who saw Big Thief’s 2017 Waking Windows performance at the Winooski United Methodist Church can attest to their formidable presence and cohesion, even at that early stage. That show was all anyone talked about after the festival, and the band consistently sells out whenever it hits Vermont.
After a string of acclaimed albums, Double Infinity is a showcase for the new Big Thief. Guitarist Buck Meek, drummer James Krivchenia and Vermont-based guitarist/vocalist Adrianne Lenker work now as a trio after the somewhat controversial departure of Israeli bassist Max Oleartchik, a founding member. Oleartchik left the band in 2024 for “interpersonal reasons,” according to an official statement, which, amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, fueled internet speculation that his exit was largely entangled with his national and ethnic identities.
The album’s title phrase is delightfully nonsensical, like “especially everyone” or “extremely unique.” Perhaps it’s meant to signify the almost comical nature of the unknown.
Intentional or not, the new album sounds like a reboot, and that’s absolutely a good thing. Earthy folk-rock still burns at the band’s core, but there’s a sense of musical freedom that emerges almost instantly on opener “Incomprehensible.” Immersed in a thriving jungle of psychedelic guitars, synths and percussion that mingle and overlap, the track has a rollicking energy that feels lighter and fresher than much of the group’s canon.
“The message spirals / ‘Don’t get saggy, don’t get gray’ / But the soft and lovely silvers are now falling on my shoulder,” Lenker sings, surrendering to time. The following track, “Words,” is similarly busy in composition and production and plays on a parallel concept. It eddies around a kind of verbal submission. Lenker acknowledges that words “don’t make sense” and “won’t make it right,” sounding liberated rather than frustrated.
“All Night All Day” is perhaps the album’s most broadly appealing song. Layered with lively hand drums and tambourine, ethereal synths, splashy piano, and thick blankets of vocal harmonies, the song reaches an ecstatic beauty that transcends the anguish that often courses through the band’s work.
“No Fear” and “Grandmother” drift into a dreamier, droning framework that propels later cuts, such as “Happy with You,” into unapologetically ascendent bliss.
As Lenker sings on the title track, the album’s underlying concept is a fork in the road. The “two infinities” lead to “what’s been lost” and “what lies waiting.” Rather than languishing between them, Big Thief forge ahead as if they are one and the same, two paths that meet in an never-ending loop.
Double Infinity is available at bigthief.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services.
This article appears in Oct 8-14 2025.
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