Big Thief—the indie-folk Voltron of Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik and James Krivchenia—have shared new music for the third time in as many months, releasing “Change” and announcing a spring North American tour. Though the band have yet to announce a new album, their current string of singles, which also includes “Little Things,” “Sparrow” and “Certainty,” suggests that the follow-up to 2019’s U.F.O.F. and Two Hands is somewhere up Big Thief’s sleeves.
Previewed during the band’s September Pitchfork Music Festival set, “Change” radiates wisdom and inner peace, gently suggesting (without insisting) that life’s evanescence is essential to its meaning. “Would you live forever, never die / While everything around passes? / Would you smile forever, never cry / While everything you know passes?” Lenker asks over acoustic strums and minimalist low end, with Meek’s electric guitar and hardly noticeable synths sneaking occasionally into the mix. The band’s unassuming instrumentation only amplifies the song’s core concept, which manages to imbue even death itself with a sense of wondrous possibility: “Death / Like a door / To a place / We’ve never been before.”
Having spent most of September on a U.S. tour, Big Thief return to the road for previously announced spring 2022 shows in the E.U. and U.K. Their new North American dates begin in Ithaca, New York, on April 12, stretching across the country (and into Canada for a show or two) and concluding with a mid-May stop in Pioneertown, California. They’ll also perform at Berlin’s inaugural Tempelhof Sounds festival in mid-June. Tickets are on sale this Friday, Oct. 8, at 10 a.m. local (Spotify presale starts Thursday, Oct. 7, at 10 a.m. local).
Listen to “Change” and revisit Big Thief’s 2016 Daytrotter session below. You’ll find their tour dates further down, with newly added shows in bold.
Big Thief Tour Dates:
January 2022
31 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef
February 2022
01 – 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
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
25 – Glasgow, GB @ Barrowland Ballroom
26 – Dublin, IE @ The National Stadium
27 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Bristol
March 2022
2 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
3 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
4 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
April 2022
12 – Ithaca, NY @ State Theatre
16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
18 – Montreal, QUE @ L’Olympia
19 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
21 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
22 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom
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 2022
02 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
03 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
04 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
07 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
12 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
14 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
June 2022
09 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound 2022
10-12 – Berlin, DE @ Tempelhof Sounds
