Big Thief vocalist/guitarist Adrianne Lenker has detailed her fifth solo album, Bright Future, which will be released March 22 through 4AD. The latest track to emerge from it, “Sadness As a Gift,” is a vintage-sounding, drum-less acoustic ballad beamed straight off a backwoods front porch from a bygone era.
Bright Future was co-produced by Lenker and Philip Weinrobe, the latter of whom also worked on Lenker’s 2020 album songs. It features contributions from musicians Nick Hakim, Mat Davidson and Josefin Runsteen, who individually knew Lenker but hadn’t all played together previously. “I had no idea what the outcome would be,” she says, but deems the results as “magical.”
“I think the thing these people have in common [is that] they are some of the best listeners I know musically. They have extreme presence,” Lenker adds of Davidson, Hakim (whom she met when she was 17) and Runsteen (whom she first encountered at an Italian castle).
The album includes the original recording of the song “Vampire Empire,” which Big Thief debuted on stage in 2022 and released as a full-band studio version last summer. Lenker will support the project with a robust 2024 tour, beginning April 19 in Galway, Ireland. Beyond a one-off March 24 appearance at the Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tn., Lenker will kick off a North American leg with a June 9-10 stand in Austin, Tx.
Here is the track list for Bright Future:
Real House
Sadness As a Gift
Fool
No Machine
Free Treasure
Vampire Empire
Evol
Candleflame
Already Lost
Cell Phone Says
Donut Seam
Ruined
Here are Adrianne Lenker’s North American tour dates:
Sun. Jun. 9-10 – Austin, TX @ The Paramount Theatre
Wed. Jun. 12 – Albuquerque, NM @ KiMO Theatre
Thu. Jun. 13 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
Sat. Jun. 15-16 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel
Mon. Jun. 17 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Thu. Jun. 20-21 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
Sat. Jun. 22 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
Tue. Jun. 25 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
Wed. Jun. 26 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
Fri. Jun. 28 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Sat. Jun. 29 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre
Mon. Nov. 11 – Northampton, MA @ Academy Of Music Theatre
Tue. Nov. 12-13 – Boston, MA @ Boch Center Shubert Theatre
Fri. Nov. 15 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia
Sat. Nov. 16 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Tue. Nov. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
Thu. Nov. 21 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
Fri. Nov. 22 – Durham, NC @ TBA
Sat. Nov. 23 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
Mon. Nov. 25-26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
