Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker recently released a solo album full of intimate guitar songs titled abysskiss. She has now shared a video for the single “symbol” which was directed by Vanessa Haddad. The beautiful clip takes place in New York City’s Coney Island where the singer-songwriter is strolling and enjoying the local effervescence. The video comes with a statement from the director:

[su_quote]The sincerity and intimacy of “symbol” inspired us to take a documentary approach to the music video. The project is a sort of tribute and love letter to New York City, Coney Island, and all of the people who make those places so special. We spent a couple of days walking the boardwalk and taking video portraits of people we met. We documented whatever they felt like sharing. It was such a warm experience – each person was so giving.[/su_quote]

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi_XDv4fH_k”]

When Big Thief‘s Adrianne Lenker announced that she would put out a solo album, it came as a surprise for everyone. To start with, Big Thief have only been a band for about four years, having released two excellent records in 2016 and 2017. You expect artists to go solo when they’re older and they start feeling burnt out with their main gig, not when things are just getting started. Lenker had already put out a solo album, but that was in 2014, even before Big Thief was formed. But what makes it even more shocking is that Big Thief already felt like Lenker‘s solo project. Not to diminish the other members’ contribution to the band’s music, but the bulk of released Big Thief material is so dominated by Lenker‘s intimate lyrics and heartfelt vocals than it’s hard to think of Big Thief as anything other than Her Band.

That being said, it’s hard not to get excited with the prospect of more Lenker material. She’s one of the brightest young songwriters in the world today, her music keeping a resonating warmth that can sometimes overshadow the sheer brilliance of her melodies. A single spin of her new solo album “abysskiss” will make it clear why Adrianne Lenker chose to release these songs under this moniker. “abysskiss” is distinctively Lenker, but it’s clearly not Big Thief material. This is a solo album in the strictest sense of the word. Basically, there are only two actors in this play – Adrianne Lenker and her guitar. “abysskiss” is comprised of low and mid tempo serenades interpreted by Lenker as she fingerpicks her guitar in what might as well be called singer-songwriter style.

At times, it’s not even too far fetched to think that it was all recorded in one take with a single microphone. Its instrumental minimalism being a perfect match with Lenker’s heartfelt voice, “abysskiss” reaches levels of warmth and closeness that even exceed her work with Big Thief. “Intimate” is an adjective that gets references way too much when it comes to music, but that is exactly what Adrianne Lenker‘s new album is. Showcasing the genuine beauty that has become a trademark of Lenker‘s songwriting, these are the kind of recordings that end up in a bonus disc of home demos of the final product. That is far from being a bad thing. “abysskiss” provides an even more private look at the songwriting processes of an incredibly talented musician whose music has always been defined by how truly honest it feels. Here, she is turning up her act to eleven, and it pays off.

Although a large chunk of the album relies almost exclusively on acoustic guitars, some of “abysskiss”’ brightest moments are precisely those when that trend is discounted. In “out of your mind”, Lenker‘s acoustic ruminations go hand in hand with a grungey, distorted guitar, bringing in a much-welcome contrast with the album’s go-to aesthetics. As for her guitar playing, it does the trick. Except for some rare instances (the almost art-pop “symbol”), Lenker‘s fingerpicking won’t let anyone open-mouthed, but it succeeds as a functional backbone on which she constructs her songs. Arguably the centerpiece of the album, “cradle” sees Lenker somewhere in between Sharon van Etten and Elliott Smith, adding layers and layers of haunting harmonies that take the song to the next level.

The cynic in us usually assumes that songwriters with a prolific output leave their A game for their main project and give use to the filler with their side ventures. Considering how close in time both Big Thief albums are, it wouldn’t be even that unlikely that this was the case. But it isn’t. The songwriting in “abysskiss” is simply superb, and if Lenker‘s songs don’t stand out on their own as much as they do with Big Thief, it’s only because of the album’s homogeneity. There’s barely any substantial aesthetic change from the opener to the closer, which works both in favour and against “abysskiss”. The album’s acoustic consistency grants it a sense of unity and seamlessness that turns it into this one big mood.

As an album to feel miserable to, “abysskiss” is simply untouchable. It’s a blanket-and-tea-on-a-Sunday album, and it works perfectly like that from front to end, as if it were comprised by a single, thirty-minute long song. Of course, that also means that it’s hard to see these songs as individual songs and not as part of a bigger whole – which is a shame in a way, because Lenker is one hell of a songwriter. Had these songs been arranged in more eclectic fashion, this would’ve been a more enjoyable album. But it also would’ve been stripped of its essence, so much that it’s probably not worth altering a single note. The defining feature of “abysskiss” is also its main crux, but that doesn’t stop it from being a commendable exercise on self-search by one of the best songwriters in our day and age.

In 2017, Adrianne Lenker-fronted Big Thief introduced themselves through the aptly-named “Masterpiece”, a debut album containing within it all the magic, honesty and mystery promised by its title. With Big Thief two devastatingly heartfelt albums in, “cradle” sees Adrianne Lenker return to her solo work with care and intention.

Awash with gorgeously layered harmonies and melodic acoustic fingerstyle, “cradle” wells with Lenker’s unmistakable, crooning vocals. There’s a light airiness in comparison to Big Thief’s distinctive twangy, fuzzed-up guitars, while still packing all the vulnerability and substance of Adrianne Lenker’s previous writing: “Baby you’re still too proud to come down / Maybe I’m still too loud to hear”. The perfect balance of emotion and understanding, every lyric is natural and instinctive.

As an artist, Lenker expresses the kind of self-understanding that comes only from varied experience. Born into a cult where she spent her first few years of life, Lenker didn’t attend high school. She recorded a handful of albums with her dad in her early teens before deciding to pursue the type of music that resonated with her most. Unfamiliar with shying away from the difficult or personal, Adrianne Lenker’s bare-all approach to song-writing is never overwhelming. On “cradle’” her words are few and tender; packed with that familiar and distinctly Lenker contemplative lyricism. And as it’s cut from the same delicate, comforting cloth as Big Thief’s “Lorraine” and “Coma”, “cradle”’s tenderness soothes the wounds it opens.