Two Hands, by Big Thief

Two Hands

by Big Thief

supported by

Eric Gedenk It simultaneously feels raw and stripped down and massive at the same time.

Meg._. One of the most beautifully poetic albums ever created. The perfect collection from start to finish. Favorite track: Two Hands.

malcolm nothing begins to compare to the love i have for this band Favorite track: Replaced.

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Standard LP
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
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1.	Rock And Sing 02:03	buy track
2.	Forgotten Eyes 03:31	buy track
3.	The Toy 04:16	buy track
4.	Two Hands 03:52	buy track
5.	Those Girls 03:22	buy track
6.	Shoulders 03:13	buy track
7.	Not 06:07	buy track
8.	Wolf 04:42	buy track
9.	Replaced 04:54	buy track
10.	Cut My Hair 03:36	buy track

about

Big Thief had only just finished work on their 3rd album, U.F.O.F. – “the celestial twin” – days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth U.F.O.F.’s sister album – “the earth twin” – Two Hands. 30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, Big Thief (a.k.a. Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet. Where U.F.O.F.layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt.

In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the U.F.O.F. session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the previous session. Two Hands had to be completely different — an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever.

“Two Hands has the songs that I’m the most proud of; I can imagine myself singing them when I’m old,” says Adrianne. “Musically and lyrically, you can’t break it down much further than this. It’s already bare-bones.” Lyrically this can be felt in the poetic blur of the internal and external. These are political songs without political language. They explore the collective wounds of our Earth. Abstractions of the personal hint at war, environmental destruction, and the traumas that fuel it. Across the album, there are genuine attempts to point the listener towards the very real dangers that face our planet. When Adrianne sings “Please wake up,” she’s talking directly to the audience.

Engineer Dom Monks and producer Andrew Sarlo, who were both behind U.F.O.F., capture the live energy as instinctually and honestly as possible. Sarlo teamed up with James Krivchenia to mix the album, where they sought to emphasize raw power and direct energy inherent in the takes. The journey of a song from the stage to the record is often a difficult one. Big Thief’s advantage is their bond and loving centre as a chosen family. They spend almost 100% of their lives together working towards a sound that they all agree upon. A band with this level of togetherness is increasingly uncommon. If you ask drummer James Krivchenia, bassist Max Oleartchik or guitarist Buck Meek how they write their parts, they will describe — passionately — the experience of hearing Adrianne present a new song, listening intently for hints of parts that already exist in the ether and the undertones to draw out with their respective instruments.

With raw power and intimacy, Two Hands folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album.

credits

released October 11, 2019

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about

Big Thief Brooklyn, New York

Listening to Big Thief is like the feeling of looking at a dog and suddenly marveling that it is like you but very not like you; when you are accustomed to looking at a dog and thinking 'dog', watching Big Thief is like forgetting the word 'dog' and looking at that naked animal and getting much closer to it and how different it is to you. ... more

shows

Sep 28

Higher Ground Ballroom

South Burlington, VT
Sep 30

Pines Theater

Northampton, MA
Oct 01

Union Transfer

Philadelphia, PA
Oct 02

Union Transfer

Philadelphia, PA
Jan 31

L'Aéronef

Lille, France
Feb 01

La Cigale

Paris, France
Feb 04

ROCK SCHOOL BARBEY

Bordeaux, France
Feb 05

Sala Apolo

Barcelona, Spain
Feb 07

Le Transbordeur

Villeurbanne, France
Feb 08

LA LAITERIE

Strasbourg, France
Feb 09

Kaufleuten

Zürich, Switzerland
Feb 10

Muffathalle

Munich, Germany
Feb 12

MeetFactory

Prague, Czech Republic
Feb 13

Huxleys Neue Welt

Berlin, Germany
Feb 15

VEGA

Copenhagen, Denmark
Feb 16

Fabrik

Hamburg, Germany
Feb 18

Live Music Hall

Cologne, Germany
Feb 19

Royal Circus (Cirque Royal/Koninklijk Circus)

Brussels, Belgium
Feb 21

TivoliVredenburg

Utrecht, Netherlands
Feb 22

De Oosterpoort

Groningen, Netherlands
Feb 24

Manchester Academy

Manchester, UK
Feb 25

Barrowland Ballroom

Glasgow, UK
Feb 26

National Stadium

Dublin, Ireland
Feb 27

O2 Academy Bristol

Bristol, UK
Mar 02

O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

London, UK
Mar 03

O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

London, UK
Mar 04

O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

London, UK
Jun 05

Parc del Fòrum

Barcelona, Spain

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