Big Thief have just announced a frontrunner for 2022’s most-anticipated album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, out Feb. 11, 2022, on 4AD. Mesmerizing new single “Time Escaping” arrives alongside the announcement, our fifth preview of the band’s forthcoming double LP after “Little Things,” “Sparrow,” “Certainty” and “Change.”
Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek and James Krivchenia recorded their sprawling new album across four distinct sessions spanning five months, working with Sam Evian in Upstate New York (“Certainty,” “Sparrow”), Shawn Everett in Topanga Canyon (“Little Things,” “Time Escaping”), Dom Monks in the Rocky Mountains (“Change”) and Scott McMicken in Tucson, Arizona. They produced 45 finished songs and cut that set down into Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’s 20 tracks, with the aim, as conceived by producer Krivchenia, of capturing the band’s many facets on a single (well, double, but you get it) album. Mat Davidson of Twain contributed much to the band’s Tucson tracks, Big Thief’s first time bringing a fifth instrumentalist into the fold for a significant role.
“One of the things that bonds us together as a band is pure magic,” says Lenker in a statement. “I think we all have the same guide and none of us have ever spoken what it is because we couldn’t name it, but somehow, we are all going for the same thing, and when we hit it… we all know it’s it, but none of us to this day, or maybe ever, will be able to articulate in words what the ‘it’ is. Something about it is magic to me.”
There’s plenty of magic on “Time Escaping,” a free-flowing psych-folk jam elevated by dynamic percussion, subtle funk touches, and Lenker’s characteristically serene vocals and natural-mystic lyricism. It’s evidence that, even as Big Thief are cataloging their sound’s defining qualities on Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, they’re also pushing it in thrilling new directions.
Listen to “Time Escaping” and revisit Big Thief’s 2016 Daytrotter session below. You’ll find the details of Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You and the band’s tour dates further down,
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You Tracklist:
01. Change
02. Time Escaping
03. Spud Infinity
04. Certainty
05. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
06. Sparrow
07. Little Things
08. Heavy Bend
09. Flower of Blood
10. Blurred View
11. Red Moon
12. Dried Roses
13. No Reason
14. Wake Me up to Drive
15. Promise Is a Pendulum
16. 12,000 Lines
17. Simulation Swarm
18. Love Love Love
19. The Only Place
20. Blue Lightning
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You Album Art:
Big Thief 2022 Tour Dates:
January
31 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef *
February
01-02 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale *
04 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey *
05 – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo *
07 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur *
08 – Strasbourg, FR @ La Laiterie Artefact *
09 – Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten *
10 – Munich, DE @ Cafe Muffathalle *
12 – Prague, CZ @ MeetFactory *
13 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt *
14 – Aarhus, DK @ Voxhall *
15 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
16 – Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik *
18 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall *
19 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal *
21 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli Vredgenburg *
22 – Groningen, NL @ De Oosterpoort *
24 – Manchester, GB @ Manchester Academy 1 *
25 – Glasgow, GB @ Barrowland Ballroom *
26 – Dublin, IE @ The National Stadium *
27 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Bristol *
March
2 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire *
3 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
4 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – SOLD OUT
April
12 – Ithaca, NY @ State Theatre of Ithaca
13 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
15-16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
18 – Montreal, QUE @ L’Olympia
19 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
21 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
22 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
23 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
25 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
26 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theater
27 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
29 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
30 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
May
02 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
03-04 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
07 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
10-11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
12 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
14 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s – SOLD OUT
15 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
June
09 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound 2022
10-12 – Berlin, DE @ Tempelhof Sounds
(* w/ KMRU)