‘It feels like the three of us are strong and inspired’

Big Thief talk to Louis Chilton about the departure of their longtime bassist, their new LP and warding off staleness

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Buck Meek, Adrianne Lenker and James Krivchenia are adjusting to life as a trio after Max Oleartchik left for 'interpersonal reasons' (Genesis Báez)

“I’m not one of those people that’s like, ‘I can’t listen to my own music’,” says Adrianne Lenker, the ineffably serene frontwoman of Big Thief. “I fucking love our music! Like, it’s good! It’s so fun to listen to.” She says that Double Infinity, the American indie band’s new record, is “one of my favourite albums ever”. Put these words in the mouth of someone like Liam Gallagher or Drake, and it might sound like excruciating egotism. Coming from Lenker, it just sounds like the truth.

It helps, of course, that she’s bang on the money: Big Thief’s music is fun to listen to - albeit a soulful, bittersweet, altogether quite involved type of fun. After breaking onto the scene with 2016’s Masterpiece, the band rapidly became one of the most respected and consistent forces in modern music. They are the sort of band that inspires ardent fanaticism: dense and vibrant on record, even more so live.

The three members of Big Thief - Lenker (guitar, vocals, and the bulk of the songwriting), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals) and James Krivchenia (drums) - are lounging around a suite at a trendy hotel in London’s Kings Cross, a few days after the release of “Incomprehensible”, Double Infinity’s hopeful, contemplative first single. The album is their first recorded as a three-piece – following the departure of bassist Max Oleartchik last June, due to what was described at the time as “interpersonal reasons”.

“It feels like a new era, like beginning again,” Lenker says. “But then I often have that feeling with art, and music.” The steroidal prolificness of Big Thief’s output has been something of an awed running joke among fans and critics since 2019, when they released two immaculate albums, UFOF and Two Hands, within a five-month period.