Adrianne Lenker announces her new solo album, Bright Future, on March 22 via 4AD. Today the Big Thief vocalist shares the single “Sadness As A Gift.” Along with the news comes new 2024 North American tour dates. Bright Future marks Lenker’s first album since 2020’s songs & instrumentals, and features co-production from Philip Weinrobe, alongside contributions from Nick Hakim, Mat Davidson, and Josefin Runsteen. “Sadness As A Gift,” follows previous single “Ruined.”

2022, saw the Big Thief band member got lucky. Three musical friends, “Some of my favourite people,” had space in their busy touring schedules to join her at the forest-hidden, analogue studio, Double Infinity. The musicians – Hakim, Davidson, and Runsteen – were known to Adrianne but newer to each other. “I had no idea what the outcome would be,” she recalls. The result? “It was magical,” she says. Adrianne’s musical risk became Bright Future, the studio’s first album, a 12-track telling of a journeyed heart.

Bright Future’s co-producer and engineer, Philip Weinrobe, prepared the studio. He has been Adrianne’s partner on previous solo albums, but this was something new. Adrianne did not intend to make an album. They would instead explore the songs with no expectations. Even with an open outcome, from the start, Phil wanted to capture the sessions with the purest, technical honesty. He rolled onto Double Infinity’s old cherry wood floors an Otari 1/2 inch 8-Track and Studer console.

To fill the air of the 150 year-old main room, Adrianne wanted piano, guitar, and violin. Mat Davidson plays them all. “I’ve known Mat a long time,” she says, “It doesn’t matter what instrument, his spirit just pours through.” At 17, Adrianne met Nick Hakim. She trusted her friend of 15 years to bring his sensitivity to the piano.

“The way Nick would hold my songs, he would put every ounce of love.” Adrianne first met Josefin Runsteen in an Italian castle, and sought the classically trained violinist and percussionist’s “magnetic and contagious” energy. “She has such fire.” In addition to instrumentation, they made a chorus, adding carefully measured vocal harmonies. The sessions impressed and enchanted Adrianne. “I think the thing these people have in common, they are some of the best listeners I know musically. They have extreme presence.”

The shelter and ease of the woodland Double Infinity studio is an element of the recordings. “It felt like everyone’s nervous systems released,” she says. “Once we were IN the song, somehow we just knew. No one stopped a take. We didn’t listen back. I only listened after everybody else left.”

Adrianne Lenker
Bright Future
Tracklist
4AD

1. Real House
2. Sadness As A Gift
3. Fool
4. No Machine
5. Free Treasure
6. Vampire Empire
7. Evol
8. Candleflame
9. Already Lost
10. Cell Phone Says
11. Donut Seam
12. Ruined

Adrianne Lenker 2024 Tour Dates

21 March – KNOXVILLE, TN, USA, Big Ears Festival
19 April – GALWAY, IRELAND, The Black Box* (SOLD OUT)
20 April – KILKENNY, IRELAND, St. Canice’s Cathedral* (SOLD OUT)
21 April – DUBLIN, IRELAND, Vicar Street* (SOLD OUT)
24 April – GLASGOW, UK, Old Fruitmarket+ (SOLD OUT)
25 April – MANCHESTER, UK, The Hall at Aviva Studios+ (SOLD OUT)
27 April – LONDON, UK, Barbican Centre= (SOLD OUT)
28 April – LONDON, UK, Barbican Centre= (SOLD OUT)
29 April – BRISTOL, UK, Bristol Beacon+ (SOLD OUT)
2 May – PARIS, FRANCE, Le Trianon+
3 May – BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, Cirque Royale+
5 May – AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, The Concertgebouw= (SOLD OUT)
6 May – BERLIN, GERMANY, Admiralspalast=
7 May – HAMBURG, GERMANY, Kampnagel=
10 May – COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, The Royal Danish Academy of Music=
11 May – STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, Berns=
12 May – OSLO, NORWAY, Chateau Neuf=
9 June – AUSTIN, TX, USA, The Paramount Theatre%
10 June – AUSTIN, TX, USA, The Paramount Theatre%
12 June – ALBUQUERQUE, NM, USA, KiMO Theatre%
13 June – TUCSON, AZ, USA, Rialto Theatre%
15 June – LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, The Theatre at Ace Hotel=
16 June – LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, The Theatre at Ace Hotel+
17 June – OAKLAND, CA, USA, Fox Theatre=
20 June – PORTLAND, OR, USA, Revolution Hall=
21 June – PORTLAND, OR, USA, Revolution Hall+
22 June – SEATTLE, WA, USA, Paramount Theatre+
25 June – SALT LAKE CITY, UT, USA, The Depot=
26 June – DENVER, CO, USA, The Mission Ballroom=
28 June – CHICAGO, IL, USA, Chicago Theatre=
29 June – MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA, State Theatre=
11 November – NORTHAMPTON, MA, USA, Academy of Music Theatre^
12 November – BOSTON, MA, USA, Boch Centre Shubert Theatre^
13 November – BOSTON, MA, USA, Boch Centre Shubert Theatre^
15 November – MONTREAL, QC, CANADA, L’Olympia^
16 November – TORONTO, ON, CANADA, Queen Elizabeth Theatre^
19 November – BROOKLYN, NY, USA, Kings Theatre^
21 November – ATLANTA, GA, USA, The Eastern^
22 November – DURHAM, NC, USA, Venue TBC^
23 November – WASHINGTON, DC, USA, The Anthem^
25 November – PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA, Union Transfer^
26 November – PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA, Union Transfer^

* w/ Ellie O’Neill

Pre-order Bright Future by Adrianne Lenker HERE