Album Review: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You - Big Thief

On February 11th, 2022, Brooklyn-based indie rock outfit Big Thief released their fifth studio album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. After the releases of multiple singles leading up to the album’s drop date, many fans wondered if there wasn’t enough unknown about the new project to live up to sky-high expectations. Luckily, to the relief of many Big Thief enthusiasts, Dragon… offered many new ideas, sounds, and themes across its 20-song, 80-minute runtime. I enjoy releasing my album reviews soon after their initial releases, but with this project, it has taken weeks to fully digest the epic new journey that Big Thief has brought to the table.

Albums with as long of a runtime as Dragon… are often overly-thematic, bloated, or stretched unnecessarily. That isn’t the case here, though, because while this project is consistent in sound and intention, it’s also fluid and non-chronological is a very accessible sense. Emotional weight varies from track to track, as “Change” reflects on the many seasons of life and death, while “Spud Infinity” playfully jests about self-acceptance and the folly of man just two tracks later behind a playful indie instrumentation. This yo-yo effect isn’t distracting; instead, it reinforces the natural bipolarity of a well-rounded life full of ebbs, flows, and everything in-between.

Dragon… is able to tackle an astounding amount of complicated, intricate topics and themes with ease, as lead singer Adrianne Lenker’s poetic lyrics facilitate easy-access introspection. This outreaching for substance isn’t just performative, either, as Lenker’s poeticism shines with lyrics like those from the album’s title-track: “When the topsoil is kicking up into the storm / And the dust goes dancing and a billion planets are born / I believe in you, even when you need to recoil.” Tangible expressions of compassion, love, and companionship are found throughout the often stripped-back, acoustic instrumental backings on every track.

There are really only positive things to say about this album aside from one or two tracks that could have been cut without dismantling the core of its quality and substance. “Sparrow” re-writes the biblical story of Adam and Eve, “No Reason” touches on the isolation from the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, “12,000 Lines” is one of the greatest sonic tributes to Joni Mitchell in recent memory, and the addictive guitar riffs that close “Simulation Swarm” follow the meditation of the intensity of modern life and technological advancement. All of this is achieved without force, naturally assembling into a grand narrative made up of small stories larger than the sum of their parts.

Big Thief replicates a nostalgic, fun, familiar indie aesthetic on Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You while simultaneously claiming this sound as their own. Adrianne Lenker’s vocal delivery, lyricism, and vulnerability pair wonderfully with the rest of the band’s simple-going but incredibly-skillful instrumental skills. The self-awareness found throughout such a wide-ranging, all-encompassing project is refreshing, and is capped off fantastically by the playful “Okay, what should we do now?” from one of the band’s members. This is a must-listen, and while it doesn’t fully steal my attention with every listen, I find myself consistently returning to this project to unravel its many ideas and pursuits.

Favorite tracks: “Change”, “Time Escaping”, “Spud Infinity”, “Certainty”, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You”, “Sparrow”, “Little Things”, “Heavy Bend”, “Red Moon”, “Dried Roses”, “No Reason”, “12,000 Lines”, “Simulation Swarm”, “Blue Lightning”

SCORE: 9/10