Album Review: Big Thief - Capacity

2 June 2017 | 1:35 pm | Dylan Stewart

"Ultimately it's a beautiful display of songwriting."

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The melancholic guitar line that introduces Capacity, the second full-length from Brooklyn indie darlings Big Thief, is a lo-fi microcosm of this tender, lyrical and hauntingly special record.

Pain lives here; a rawness that is shared by singer-songwriter Adrianne Lenker across the album's 11 tracks, from the literal pain in Mythological Beauty — "You held me in the backseat with a dishrag/soaking up blood with your eyes" — to the redemptive quality of the distorted guitar of the title track, Capacity. It's at times a difficult listen, but ultimately it's a beautiful display of songwriting and one that further cements Big Thief as leaders of their genre.