Capacity is both a logical successor to Masterpiece as well as a great leap forward for Big Thief. The chemistry that Lenker and her band have established on album number two is extraordinarily strong, but no matter how good they get, her songwriting seems as though it will forever be raw to the core.
Overall Capacity is an album brimming over with emotion and love, giving us a sharp and unforgettable insight into this person’s acute view of the human condition.
When listening to something as beautifully made and heart wrenching as Big Thief's penetrating sophomore album, Capacity, you are taken somewhere beyond the physical, whether walking or sitting or lying down, moving or motionless.
Capacity is a remarkable record, one that proves that Big Thief are not a one trick pony, they are the full circus.
There’s a stunningly transformative quality to Big Thief’s second effort, a feat considering it’s a been a little over a year since the Brooklyn foursome last released their breakthrough debut, Masterpiece.
Big Thief aren’t the sort of band that will always hit you suddenly, such is their subtlety and restraint, but on Capacity they prove that when they do it’s powerful and memorable.
While she still writes entirely from personal experience here, not invoking characters, the act of releasing the band's debut -- a record with moments that hit the musical equivalent of a raw nerve -- along with playing the songs over and over live, provided a sort of healing through immersion that can be heard in the increased composure of Capacity.
There are a lot of songs and stories in Adrianne Lenker’s brain and Capicity can’t hold them all, but the 11 that it does are an excellent evolution in the band’s musical and storytelling progression.
Themes of surrender, escape and sudden violence run throughout Capacity, the second album from Lenker’s four-piece Big Thief, but one which is ultimately about the capacity of humans to love each other, sometimes suffocatingly, as partners, parents and children.
Where debut album Masterpiece wrapped up their sadness in punch-drunk vignettes about stale beer and piss, Capacity explores their songs’ inherent melancholy more fully.
It’s the kind of record that has an immediate impact, but can also linger over time. It shows a quick growth in confidence from the last record to this one, mostly leaving behind the moments that feel too quiet, too intimate to always connect to from the last record.
Capacity, the swift follow-up, also no doubt contains ideas that Lenker has had on the back burner for years, but while it shares much with Masterpiece in terms of her carefully detailed excavation of the past and her band’s instrumentation, it has its own urgent stories to tell.
On Capacity, Big Thief’s stunning and subtle sophomore record, Lenker positions herself as one of indie rock’s most gut-wrenchingly resonant songwriters.
If we’re being honest, Capacity is simply a better record than Masterpiece. No contest. The catchy songs are catchier; the melodies are tighter; the peaks and troughs dip higher and lower.
Big Thief just does something to me.
An outstretched hand. I grasped it and here I was, received the most dignified welcome I have ever received from my WhatTheFunk memory. Received not as a host or a prince, but as a friend. No need for caresses in the direction of hair, it will have been enough for my host to show me a vacant place next to her, on the ground, and I sat there, in front of a campfire, I shyly sweep the surrounding wood with my eyes. Adrianne started blowing on the embers, her ... read more
While it doesn’t have any songs that make me wanna run around my room in circles like Masterpiece did, this LP instead just fills me with the most genuine feeling of peace. It’s just...so nice. Truly, crank this one up if you’ve had a rough day and just let your mind go.
And while we’re here, I wanna talk about Adrianne Lenker and queerness. As a bisexual dude, there is something so refreshing about the way she sings about love. Sometimes she’s talking about ... read more
[Resenha Coloquial]
Capacity é um produto resultado de um esforço criativo muito admirável de dona Adrianne e seus companheiros, assim como todos os seus outros demais álbuns. Porém, acho que esse se destaca mais dos demais (juntamente de seu mais recente álbum, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You), por essa interessante adereço da produção indie rock/indie folk característica da banda ao dream pop e o pop ... read more
short review-
although much of the album stays muddied up in some pretty boring indie rock cliches, some songs manage to escape this and deliver more interesting experiences. additionally, this is the one of the most heart-rending albums i have heard in the past month, as lenker delivers stories of loss and pain. while production and arrangement wise it doesn't pack a huge punch, it more than makes up for that in the lyrical department.
This is the second big thief project I've listened to in full, and I'm blown away by how good this is. I really like DNWM and when I listened to this for the first time, I liked it but just saw it as a less ambitious version of that, which makes sense since it came out before. However, after sitting with it, it's kinda of insane that there's not a bad track on here.
Each one is distinct, flows really well, and surprisingly technical. Adrianne's voice just floats on every track, and the ... read more
14 years old me think this is deep, underground, cool and everything
Present me think this is useless and has a terrible production (that's the worst part...)
1 | Pretty Things 3:04 | 88 |
2 | Shark Smile 3:57 | 89 |
3 | Capacity 3:51 | 85 |
4 | Watering 3:22 | 85 |
5 | Coma 3:39 | 84 |
6 | Great White Shark 3:21 | 86 |
7 | Mythological Beauty 5:06 | 92 |
8 | Objects 2:41 | 81 |
9 | Haley 3:32 | 86 |
10 | Mary 5:28 | 92 |
11 | Black Diamonds 3:34 | 87 |
#1 | / | FLOOD |
#1 | / | Newsweek |
#1 | / | The Wild Honey Pie |
#2 | / | SPIN |
#2 | / | The Key |
#3 | / | NPR Music |
#4 | / | Rough Trade |
#6 | / | The 405 |
#8 | / | BBC Radio 6 Music |
#8 | / | Vinyl Me, Please |