Bright Future
Album by Adrianne Lenker
Released 22 March 2024
Singer-Songwriter
Label – 4AD
Rating – 9/10
My heart has been stolen by a big thief.
–
I have never questioned the emotional realism of Adrianne Lenker’s art and I’m not about to start – the only thing I have done and am now about to do even more is overuse the words “emotion” and “emotional” in an album review. The Big Thief singer’s quintessentially shuddering voice, like a trapped animal still hitting notes in spite of fear, has gifted several albums from the past decade the sort of humanistic edge most strive for. This is notable on Big Thief albums like Two Hands and Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, and her own solo material, including Abysskiss, Songs, and now, Bright Future.
Lenker’s screams are more direct than ever on Bright Future, even if those screams are laughs or cries. Multiple licenses achieve this for her; her quivers are often broken up by soft breaths or to-self-laughs; her compositions and arrangements are crazy simple, nothing is cloaked or abstract; she faces the world naked, tossing any uptight prepositions aside as she goes into whatever laughing or crying detail she needs to.
With the latter in mind, the album would be comparable to the work of Phil Elverum, but more specifically, Real House is comparable to the work of Phil Elverum. Pianos unbound themselves, switching up tempo, switching up queues, all so that Lenker’s real life stories get more of a say than music. She discusses her history with her family; her dad being there for her when she needed to go to hospital, crying together when having to put their dog down. Its signature is its vocalisations that swoon later on, comparable to David Byrne high-ending on This Must Be the Place.
But many chunks of the tracklist combine the multiple essences Lenker has going for her, and that’s how she punches you in the heart – like, thanks for listening, here’s a punch in the heart. Vampire Empire – originally a Big Thief song that they performed on Colbert – is Mountain Goats-esque in its lo-fi, hawk-swelling meadow approach. Lenker tests her microphone, professing her romantic fervencies – “I wanted to see you naked, I wanted to hear you scream” – with the utmost sternness, and juxtaposing some metaphor with her stripped-back surroundings – “I see you there rejecting all your earthly power / protecting and dissecting ‘til you’ve emptied every hour” – again, with the utmost sternness. I’m glad the song didn’t receive much studio makeup; it’s nasty, jagged, wholesome and true.
Her passion gushes like a brook, manifesting as a simple set of declarations and Americana vocal harmonies on No Machine – “don’t know what I’d do, don’t know what I’d do without you”. It’s a bit of a cliché but it’s as if she’s singing for you, through personability and a vocal ability that melts steel. Wonderful set of melodies too.
Even a silly cliché about love spelling ‘evol’ backwards is coated in the form of sadness that makes the entirety of one’s body feel pointy. The simple piano chords and modest string accompaniment of Evol will do that; quite incredible how that slight extra instrumentation can make a song feel even more vulnerable, even more embarrassed and on-display.
Dressed-up instrumentation will get the job done too. Following the minimalism of Real House, Sadness As a Gift opens wide and says “ahh” with some of the album’s most illustrious instrumentation, digging a hole and pulling out violins, all in larger slice of Americana. The album is all country or country-adjacent but Sadness As a Gift is one cut that goes all out.
That said, nothing makes use of banjos quite like Already Lost, and a galloping twang strikes the strings of Fool like a better version of a post-2012 Tallest Man on Earth Song. Lenker has trouble stifling her laughs on the song; it is a bit of a silly one – “daddy’s advice (ADVICE VICE)” – and it’s fun to hear her react to its silliness in real time.
The roughneck waltz of an early Bob Dylan outtake grumbles through Cell Phone Says, prettied by Lenker’s ability to reach a second octave – no offence, Bob. Modern quirks take over Donut Seam via some Bon Iver-esque harmonics duking it out with an otherwise natural, acoustic guitar disposition.
But her words enrich the world around her as much as her musicianship, especially when hit with her spurring twang. It’s what romanticises every aspect of romantic life on Free Treasure, upswung by lines about food that Lenker sings with hearts in her eyes, stumbling on “free treasure” in the process. Her knack for sharing allows us to stumble on the same, in the form of melodies plucked from memories-on-film and hardship on Ruined – she left her best melody for last, like a goodbye thriving on the possibility of peace or decision.
The clearness of its statements and styles contribute to the feelings-heavy inclinations of Bright Future, like compositional aerobics. Adrianne Lenker always had it in her; she’s released some of the most emotionally rewarding music of her generation, but Bright Future is emotion emotion emotion emotion – quota fulfilled – and wearing its heart on its tear-soaked sleeve places it above all else.
Best tracks – Real House – Sadness As a Gift – Free Treasure – Vampire Empire – Evol.
Rating – 9 out of 10
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