Big Thief Share Another New Single, “Certainty”

Indie darlings Big Thief recently shared their first proper songs since 2019, “Little Things” and “Sparrow,” landing on Paste’s list of August’s best songs in the process. Now, ahead of their monthlong U.S. tour kicking off tonight (Sept. 7) with a sold-out show in Louisville, Kentucky, the band have shared another new track, “Certainty.”

Big Thief wrote “Certainty” during a three-day power outage at Sam Evian’s Flying Cloud Studios in upstate New York, recording directly to a four-track. Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek harmonize over folksy guitars and Max Oleartchik’s forceful bassline, with James Krivchenia’s shuffling drums ushering it all along. Lenker and Meek deliver knotty, pastoral lyrics like “Crooked as a crow gnawing on dawn / Shadow from the grass in the dirt on the lawn,” and they’re joined by Hannah Cohen on backing vocals as they profess a powerful kind of passion in the choruses: “My certainty is wild, weaving / For you I am a child, believing / You lay beside me sleeping on a plain / In the future.” It’s a warm, rustic love song, the kind Big Thief make sound so easy.

Meek recalls how “Certainty” came together in a statement:

On the third day of the outage, I found Adrianne on the porch writing a new song, so I sat with her and we finished it together, with the rain falling from the gutters splashing over our guitars. James and Sam saw us writing, and quickly set up a four track tape machine in the kitchen, powered by the F250 cigarette lighter out in the yard. They set up the drums by the sink, and Max plugged his bass into a bluetooth speaker set on top of the stove. Take 2 had a great bark from Sam and Hannah’s pup Jan during the solo, but we ended up going with take 3 because it took us about that long to learn the chords. Then we made pancakes and sausages and ate breakfast for dinner.

There’s no word yet on a new Big Thief album, but the band had an awfully prolific 2019, releasing a pair of our favorite records of that year in U.F.O.F. and Two Hands. Consider us excited for their next effort, whenever it may materialize.

Big Thief’s U.S. tour hits Chicago, Houston, Nashville, Atlanta and New York City, to name a few locales, over the course of the next month—see if your city’s included down below, but first, listen to “Certainty” and revisit Big Thief’s 2016 Daytrotter session.

Big Thief Tour Dates:

September
07 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall * – SOLD OUT
08 – Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI – SOLD OUT *
10 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
11 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
12 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall *
14 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater ^
15 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater ^
17 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Downstairs ^
18 – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre ^
20 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium *
21 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern *
22 – Raleigh, NC @ North Carolina Museum of Art +
24 – Richmond, VA @ The National #
25 – Queens, NY @ The Governors Ball Music Festival
27 – Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall &
28 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground – SOLD OUT #
30 – Northampton, MA @ Pines Theatre – SOLD OUT %

October
01 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer – SOLD OUT *
02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer – SOLD OUT *

January 2022
31 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef

February 2022
01 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale
04 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
05 – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo
07 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur
08 – Strasbourg, FR @ La Laiterie Artefact
09 – Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten
10 – Munich, DE @ Cafe Muffathalle
12 – Prague, CZ @ MeetFactory
13 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt
15 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
16 – Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik
18 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall
19 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal
21 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli Vredgenburg
22 – Groningen, NL @ De Oosterpoort
24 – Manchester, GB @ Manchester Academy
25 – Glasgow, GB @ 02 Academy Bristol

March 2022
2 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
3 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
4 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

June 2022
9 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound 2022

(* with Mind Maintenance)
(^ with Jimmy Stallings)
(# with Natural Information Society)
(+ with Molly Sarlé)
(% with Alex G)
(& with Buck Meek)