Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Critic Score
Based on 34 reviews
2022 Ratings: #24 / 805
Year End Rank: #5
User Score
2022 Rank: #7All Time: #472
Liked by 1,107 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Evening Standard

An abundance of styles gives the potential for a new favourite song every time you listen to this rich album.

100
The Independent

In a market saturated with arty folk rockers, Big Thief stand out not by doing things weirder, but by doing them better.

95
Still Listening
The music and the sound of “DWMIBIY” are untouchable. Try to pin it down, it playfully dares, you can watch the music soar off like a wave, the band standing beside you, in awe as well. The music beckons and Big Thief themselves willingly oblige, changing the course of indie music and folk in the process.
92
Beats Per Minute
Their songs are always welcoming, politely asking you to open yourself to them, like a warm fire that you plop down in front of, its warmth prompting you to get in touch with yourself or maybe even your former lives.
91
Paste

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is the work of a great band at a creative peak.

90
Loud and Quiet

With Dragon… we glimpse Big Thief’s magic in action, like pressing an ear to the rehearsal room door. It’s a lived experience, open-hearted and spontaneous, that pushes the boundaries of what the four, between them, can create.

90
Gigwise

In a time when artists have to navigate a complex music industry that does not always benefit an extensive album release, Big Thief has displayed the importance of producing honest music to the best of your ability. It’s the kind of album that is best consumed whole, so be sure to put aside enough time to take in the whole thing.

90
Spectrum Culture

On their fearless double album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, Big Thief let go of all inhibitions and intentionality in order to grasp their place in the universe. They’ve never felt closer to finding it.

90
Northern Transmissions

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is an album that keeps on giving, from a band that does the same and asks for nothing in return but to be appreciated as the thoughtful artists they always have been.

90
Uncut
Instantly satisfying, but its charms and mysteries will resound
for years.
90
Clash
The afterglow of the titanic achievement of ‘Dragon…’ fails to recede for hours afterwards, with the listener existing in a kind of starstruck daze.
90
Pitchfork
Big Thief’s ambitious yet unburdened fifth album is a 20-song epic of kaleidoscopic invention, striking beauty, and wigged-out humor, rambling far beyond the bounds of their previous work.
90
Exclaim!

That Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You's vast ecosystem can support this multitude of sounds and voices is astonishing.

90
musicOMH
This big, sprawling album which allows Adrienne Lenker and co to move from hushed ballads to more raucous fare at a blink of an eye, yet never seems to outstay its welcome.
90
PopMatters

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You collates everything Big Thief are now known for – pristine arrangements, tight performances, urgent emotionality – into a behemoth of stellar songs. Though it clocks in at about 80 minutes, somehow it all flies by like a breeze.

90
No Ripcord
This double album—these 20 songs—see the band craft an array of atmospheres, blending their previous approaches with a never-ending appetite for experimentation and wonder.
90
DIY
‘Dragon New…’ is largely an epic of intimate, stripped-back proportions. Put simply, it’s a masterpiece.
83
A.V. Club

Like its title, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You can be a bit much, but Big Thief still crafts the closest thing we get to timeless music these days.

80
Mojo

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is both an album of admirable ambition and a mantra worth repeating until its mysteries are revealed.

80
Under the Radar

If Dragon ends up being a fan favorite just for the fact that it has the most songs, the most sounds, and the ability to make you notice a new favorite each time through, that’s a perfectly fine way to view it.

80
The Observer

Stark balladry meets raucous hoedowns as the US indie rockers offer fresh highlights with every listen.

80
NME

The Brooklyn-formed band's fifth album explores a broad range of sounds, and comes filled with openness.

80
Dork
A band in an indescribable zone feeling things out together, they’re not looking for anything in particular; a sound, a vibe, or an emotion. They’re just hoping you’ll come along for the ride.
80
The Young Folks

One of the biggest and warmest surprises here is that they’ve added country music to their already considerable arsenal of Americana genres to draw upon.

80
Record Collector

A double album can be daunting but, clunky title aside, you're in safe hands with Big Thief's fifth record.

80
The Irish Times
In a way, much of the record is marked by a sense of the open road.
76
Sputnikmusic

Personally, I can't co-sign on Dragon... as an instant, all-time classic the way it's tempting to do. I don't even think it tops their still-masterpiece, the astonishing Two Hands, in terms of overall hit rate and emotional gutpunches.

70
God Is in the TV

As with every Big Thief album Dragon… benefits from repeated plays, with musical nuances revealing themselves and lyrical imagery hitting you on repeated plays, yet unlike their debut or the superlative U.F.O.F it feels like some of these songs we are eavesdropping rather than being addressed directly.

70
The Line of Best Fit

The LP steps away from their usual repertoire, offering a softer, more stripped-back approach to their musings, teetering on the edge of almost folk-rock.

70
AllMusic

It seems unfair to call DNWMIBIY a failed experiment, as it's loaded with gems -- including some of Big Thief's most free-spirited work to date -- however, it lands much more like a showreel than a plotted album.

70
Slant Magazine

Big Thief’s Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is more diverse and fully realized than the band’s past albums.

70
Rolling Stone

Beloved indie-folk band delivers a 20-song album full of slanted revelation.

60
The Skinny

On their latest album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, Big Thief are at their most beguiling when giving in to weird experiments.

BradTasteMusic
97

Gorgeous. The album truly rewards those who are patient. Something which has felt difficult to do the last few years. This album was a sweet lullaby. Pure relaxation.

Doublez
92

"Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You" synthesizes everything we need to know about Big Thief, blending it with new perspectives on the future in an album of ultimate dedication. It's an introspective journey through America as heartwarming as it is poignant, where the landscapes are the main influences and actors of this wonderful story.

Big Thief is one of my contemporary bands of heart since a few years already, it is typically the kind of music that seduces me, touches me, ... read more

jxshmccabe
80

Big Thief on their White Album Beatles shit!

3 years and a global pandemic after they dropped two LP’s back to back, Big Thief return with a double LP titled “Dragon New Warm Mountain, I Believe In You” (that’s a mouthful) and it’s by far their best work to date.

This double album was recorded in 4 different locations; New York, California, Colorado and Arizona. Each new place they recorded songs at brought out a different side of the band and shows exactly how ... read more

DenisJ
95

Adrianne Lenker's voice makes me feel like I'm about to break down crying at all times

81

Genre-defying album. The first of Big Thief's I've listened to. Tracks that explore complexities in the simplest of words, even when the words seem strewn carelessly together, the feeling produced is exquisite. Has introduced me to a whole new area of music I never thought I'd want to listen to. Dragon New Warm Mountain can have me up on my feet dancing to sat in the corner in the fetal position rocking with horror and realisation about my feet touching this planet. A truly weird expansion to ... read more

denkirena
85

It's so good, I love Adrianne Lenker's voice and the whole album is a vibe

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Added on: November 9, 2021