It can be especially hard to keep up with the news these days, so let us help you out: Yes, Big Thief put out one of the best records of the year so far, called U.F.O.F. And yes, the band is releasing another beautiful album, Two Hands, out later this month.

In a recent Stereogum profile, Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker talked about the differences between the two albums. She says U.F.O.F. is more focused on "staring out into the abyss," but Two Hands "is more the micro, zooming into the blood and tissue and guts of being a human."

"Not," the first song we heard from Two Hands, makes being a human sound electrifying and intense. "Forgotten Eyes," the band's latest single, is somewhat gentler — a meditation on human connection and the "common soil keeping us dry and warm." Lenker's voice here has a ragged intensity as she calls out for compassion: "Everybody needs a home and deserves protection," she sings, a reminder of the radical intimacy that makes the band's music feel so powerful.


Two Hands is out Oct. 11 via 4AD.

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

300x250 Ad

300x250 Ad

Support quality journalism, like the story above, with your gift right now.

Donate