Go backstage with The Music and receive FREE:

  • Exclusive members-only editorial, charts
  • Our subscriber-only newsletter
  • Members only competitions to win tickets, experiences and more
  • Access to our street press archives
  • First access to our exclusive limited edition vinyl variants

Thank you for being a part of our community! Enter your email address as verification and you'll be taken backstage right away.

Please ensure that you provide a valid email address.

Album Review: Big Thief - Capacity

StarStarStarStarHalf Star

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

More Big Thief Big Thief

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.