On Sept. 5, Big Thief released its new studio album Double Infinity. For many, this album has been a source of confusion, as it is set so apart from much of the band’s work. For starters, the cover is optically exploratory in comparison to their others: It features a bright green lime encircled by ring-shaped peels. Additionally, the music itself is significantly more exploratory—surprising considering the album is produced by Dom Monks, who has been working with the band since their 2019 album Two Hands. 

Big Thief’s discography has seen an apparent movement towards experimentation over the years. Their debut album, Masterpiece, while unique in terms of production and lyricism, stands as a genre-conforming indie-rock album. However, with the growing faith of their listeners, Big Thief has embraced a new confidence in defying genre. 

In an interview with NPR, Adrianne Lenker, Big Thief’s lead singer, commented on one of the lyrics of “Grandmother,” their new album’s seventh track. “We’re going to turn it all into rock and roll. We’re going to transmute this energy and find a high frequency of love and recognize […] the gift of life.” 

To most, the album hardly sounds like rock and roll, which is characterised by a steady beat and simple phrasing. Double Infinity instead plays with lagging tempos and daring lyric-work. Not distinctly un-rock and roll—though definitely uncommon—the album also makes use of a German steel-stringed guitar, the zither. Shockingly, “Grandmother” lacks that signature rock sound. Instead, it features the loping vocals of Laraaji, an American ambient-musician notable for his defiance of musical convention. 

For the band, it seems that rock and roll shows up as less of a sound than an ideology. Big Thief aims to abandon the singularity of music categorisation, opting for layered vocals, a smorgasbord of genres, and a diverse range of instruments. The band explores the infinite shapes that music can take, reflected in the LP’s title. 

In the album’s title song, “Double Infinity,” the lyrics explore another meaning of the album’s name. During the chorus, Lenker sings, “At the bridge of two infinities / What’s been lost and what lies waiting.” This defines Double Infinity as a simultaneously endless existence of one’s past and future. 

As a dedicated Big Thief listener, I noticed Double Infinity projects an emphasized sense of self-observance. For example, the title song has a line which states, “Troubled mind let me rest / My life is full, my heart is blessed / And still you put me to the test.” Lenker uses the word “you” to refer to her own psyche and its recollection of the past. In other songs, such as “Los Angeles,” the lead singer does something similar; she notes a “you” who sang for her. Perhaps Lenker describes a self she found in LA: Her identity as a singer-songwriter. 

These lyrics suggest that the two infinities of Double Infinity are more than just the past and the future; they are the infinity of one’s identity within the present moment, and that of the identity that they remember from the past or envision for the future. 

“Incomprehensible” provides an analysis of aging, with Lenker pondering the future ahead as she sojourns, “All across Ontario,” accompanied by her older self. In applying this understanding of the theme, “All Night All Day” stands out, for the song is written in the present tense and forms no attempt at remembrance or forward reach. The song describes the relationship between Lenker and her partner. It acts as a boon, providing an answer to what grants one respite from constant self-rumination: Love. This is mirrored in “Grandmother,” which features the suffering of an older woman plagued by her past self. The song states, “It’s alright, everything that happened happened,” followed by, “We are made of love.” 

Analyses aside, Big Thief’s newest album, Double Infinity, cannot be boiled down into one thesis—just like infinity itself. Listeners should approach the album with an open mind because the songs will take them exactly where they need to go, riding comfortably on the mystical twangs of a zither.