Big Thief have revealed their new full-length, Two Hands, will come out on October 11th via 4AD. Ahead of the album’s release, the band have shared lead-single, “Not”. Along with the news, Big Thief has announced new tour dates, including details of a special intimate London show.

Two Hands was recorded 30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, Big Thief (a.k.a. Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet. Where U.F.O.F. layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt.

The Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the previous recording sessions. Two Hands had to be completely different— an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes.

“Two Hands has the songs that I’m the most proud of; I can imagine myself singing them when I’m old,” says Adrianne. “Musically and lyrically, you can’t break it down much further than this. It’s already bare-bones.” Lyrically this can be felt in the poetic blur of the internal and external. These are political songs without political language. They explore the collective wounds of our Earth. Abstractions of the personal hint at war, environmental destruction, and the traumas that fuel it. Across the album, there are genuine attempts to point the listener towards the very real dangers that face our planet. When Adrianne sings “Please wake up,” she’s talking directly to the audience.

Engineer Dom Monks and producer Andrew Sarlo, worked on U.F.O.F., Sarlo teamed up with James Krivchenia to mix the album.

Big Thief
Two Hands
Tracklist

1.Rock And Sing
2. Forgotten Eyes
3. The Toy
4. Two Hands
5. Those Girls
6. Shoulders
7. Not
8. Wolf
9. Replaced
10. Cut My Hair