‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’ achieves total serenity – Adam Coil

Big Thief dropped their fifth album “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” a week after BC, NR dropped their sophomore album, and these two projects have been in the driver’s seat for my album of the year ever since. Big Thief has been an indie folk powerhouse since 2016 and, while they’re not a band that pushes the envelope too much stylistically, they have always been consistent in making pleasant music with a lyrical depth that far exceeds most popular music today. 

Adrienne Lenker — the lead singer of Big Thief — makes this album as amazing as it is with her famously soft and soothing vocals. She has this ability to make everything about life seem more pleasant and beautiful, like waking up and instantly thinking about something you’re genuinely looking forward to doing that day. Lenker is a gently encouraging presence throughout the album, and she seems to approach the deep and complex questions that the album asks with a uniquely wise and understanding voice. 

“Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” is undoubtedly a spring album, but I think that it can be relevant to the fall as well. A lot of the album is concerned with change and dealing with that change, something which is just as important in August as it is in March. The song “Time Escaping” might resonate especially well right now, reminding us that we cannot hold on to the warmth of summer any more than we can speed up the return of spring and that we have to learn to enjoy and see the beauty of whichever wrinkle in time we find ourselves in. 

I think that this new release from Big Thief is a great album that can be elevated even further by the right setting. I first listened to it heavily while in the snowy mountains of Colorado, a place where you cannot help but contemplate your relation to nature and your undeniable smallness. The rushing rivers and vast stretches of giant trees made it so much easier to connect to the mood Big Thief was going for on this one. I recommend listening to this somewhere that allows you to get away from it all, you just might find something.