Gracie Hadland on February 27th, 2019

0

The additional “F” of “UFOF,” the newest single from Big Thief, stands for “friend,” as in Unidentified Flying Object Friend. One would believe that lead singer-songwriter Adrianne Lenker has communicated with extraterrestrial forces, as that seems to be the only reasonable explanation for the source of her musicality. However, it seems too true, too authentic to come from anywhere but within.

The song is the title track from Big Thief’s upcoming third album, “U.F.O.F.,” out May 3 via their new label home, 4AD, and the Brooklyn band’s first release since 2017’s “Capacity.” The group of musicians includes Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar), Max Oleartchik (bass) and James Krivchenia (drums). Since then Lenker released and has toured with her solo record “Abysskiss,” a collection of intricate songs that showcase her talent as a songwriter. Lenker, originating from the rural Midwest, began her early career on track to child pop stardom, playing her songs at open mics and bars, releasing two albums between ages 13 and 16. To imagine the songwriter as a musical prodigy is easy, while the idea of Lenker as a popstar is more difficult to reconcile with the sounds of her current music which are so, well, un-pop.

The single is so seemingly effortless, sounding less like a song and more like a whisper, Lenker reluctantly sharing with her listener the mysteries of the universe. As if to reveal some haunting premonition, Lenker sings, “There will soon be proof / That there is no alien / Just a system of truth and lies / The reason, the language / And the law of attraction,” facing with ambivalence a perhaps unpleasant reality and relinquishing fantasy.

||| Stream: “UFOF”

||| Live: Big Thief headlines the Fonda Theatre on May 2, with Victoria Williams opening (Tickets) and the Bootleg Theater on May 3, with Jolie Holland opening (Tickets).