In July 2023, the band released the single "Vampire Empire", [40] which they had debuted in a live performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earlier in February of the same year. [41] Band members [ edit ] More audacious than that, half the song is given over to Lenker’s electric guitar solo – a sceptic-converting firework display derived from the spacious Neil Young school, but wound far more tightly, full of frustration and suffering, angry and ecstatic at the same time. Lenker solos on electric a few more times, an approach that raises the question why Big Thief bother with so much mellifluous Americana filler when they could routinely blow the roof off every venue with Lenker’s gnarly power and Meek’s revolutionary un-playing. Capacity did not enter the US Billboard 200, but peaked at number 9 on the US Heatseekers Albums Chart. [53] The band's fifth studio album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, was released in February 2022. A double album, it reached the top ten in the Netherlands and was also nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2023 Grammys, while its second single "Certainty" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance. I think it's really valid," Lenker says. "It's probably a useful part of yourself telling you, 'This is vulnerable, this feels really exposed,' and that's like you telling you to treat it with care when you do do it ... Start to share with people, even just one or two people at a time, even just a couple friends who you want to share with, where you feel like this will be a safe place — 'I know that people are actually listening,' and then sharing it there."

Brodsky, Rachel (October 4, 2021). "Big Thief Prep Double LP For 2022". Stereogum . Retrieved October 4, 2021. Lenker thought for a moment. "Is it possible that you're truly just not ready to sing about those things? Or do you feel a pull to really want to sing about them?"Redfern, Mark (May 11, 2021). "Big Thief Announce Fall Tour Dates, Release New Live EP and Share Live Video for "Shoulders" ". Under the Radar . Retrieved May 23, 2021.

Tonight, though, it swiftly becomes apparent that Big Thief are extraordinary, albeit in bursts. What was shruggy on record comes to vivid, pulsating life. Capacity appeared on multiple album-of-the-year lists, including #1 on NPR's " Bob Boilen's Top Ten Album's of 2017". [13] Boilen said, "I don't recall the last time I had the same band in my top five albums for two years in a row. But this year's Capacity (my No. 1 album) and last year's Masterpiece (my No. 4 album) did just that." Spin named Capacity #2 on their "50 Best Albums of 2017", citing the band's "open engagement with anguish in their bracing songs." [14] The song "Mary" appeared on Pitchfork's 200 Best Songs of the 2010s list, at #44. [15] 2019–2020: U.F.O.F. and Two Hands [ edit ] Minsker, Evan (October 6, 2021). "Big Thief Announce 2022 North American Tour, Share New Song "Change": Listen". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 6, 2021. I was at the show you guys did last night and I kind of had a question," one student asked towards the end of the session. "After you guys played 'Masterpiece' you mentioned ... that sometimes there were certain parts of songs that are sometimes hard to sing. .. I'll write songs that are about things that are really hard for me to sing about, sometimes, and I don't know how to get over that and be able to perform [them], but [I'm] also afraid of, if I think through it in terms of, 'Get over it and perform it,' am I still going to get an emotional performance? I didn't know how you dealt with that and navigated that." Cattails" did not enter the Flanders Ultratop 50, but charted as an "extra tip" on the Ultratip chart. [45]

Credits (11)

For all except noted: "Big Thief albums". Australian Recording Industry Association / Australian-charts . Retrieved March 8, 2022. Brandle, Lars (April 2, 2020). "Chance the Rapper, FKA Twigs, Courtney Barnett & More Shortlisted For 2020 A2IM Libera Awards". Billboard . Retrieved April 8, 2020. DeVille, Chris (July 19, 2023). "Big Thief – "Vampire Empire" ". Stereogum . Retrieved July 20, 2023.

Mythological Beauty" did not enter the UK Singles Chart, but peaked at number 46 on the UK Physical Singles Chart. [62] Masterpiece is a scrapbook of sorts, so it makes sense that the name songs—“Paul,” “Lorraine,” “Randy”—tend to be the strongest. "Paul"twinkles gorgeously through a wistful, dreamy ache of guitars as Lenker recounts a love that could have been if she hadn't been so practical, but "Lorraine" is the kind of scene worth replaying in your mind every night just before dozing off. Atop a lightly strummed acoustic melody, Lenker describes an encounter that under another's less tender eye would seem dirty. But Lenker—seemingly harmonizing with herself—captures the magic of spontaneous attraction, the way some lovers can draw you in through just about anything.

U.F.O.F.: "2019-05-10 Top 100 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company . Retrieved November 15, 2019.