If anything, this feels more like a companion piece, a window into that cabin rather than its own separate record. If you wish you had been there, this is the best way to feel like you were.
Instrumentals ... makes for good company, reminiscent of that friend playing across the room from you, complete with clinking frets and audible smiles.
They are not showy pieces, but the depth of her relationship with her instrument is clear.
It seems unlikely that writing and recording songs and instrumentals allowed Lenker to fully heal her heart, but in among its living, breathing atmosphere are signs of new life and new hope.
Soothing balms following the drama of Songs.
On instrumentals, Lenker settles down from songs' busier thoughts, indulging in the stoicism within to achieve moments of serenity, if only briefly.
The companion album instrumentals consists of two extended tracks. The first, for indigo, is a scrapbook of strums and chords that Lenker can use as a sampler to construct fuller songs in the future.
The corresponding second album, Instrumentals, is even more enthralling. Instead of getting swept up by Lenker’s visceral songwriting, she showcases patience and intuition.
The best moments on 'Songs' feel like realisations occurring in real time, but 'Instrumentals' is all about the process of seeking things out.
It’s a fresh take on the Big Thief singer’s fascination with the harmony of music and environment, and a deep breath after the trauma and devastation of songs.
The instrumentals may offer ambient comfort for late, late nights or the sequestered.
Instrumentals is a collage of unhulled, wood-smoked acoustic guitar improvisations.
#2 | / | The New Yorker: Amanda Petrusich |
#2 | / | Vulture |
#3 | / | Our Culture |
#4 | / | Magnet |
#4 | / | No Ripcord |
#5 | / | Spectrum Culture |
#7 | / | Gothamist |
#11 | / | Beats Per Minute |
#11 | / | BrooklynVegan |
#11 | / | Esquire (UK) |