ALBUM REVIEW: With ‘Bright Future,’ Adrianne Lenker Underscores Her Depth and Versatility

On the heels of Big Thief’s opus, 2022’s Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (ND review) and her mercurial solo diptych, 2020’s Songs and Instrumentals, Adrianne Lenker releases her latest non-band venture, Bright Future. Throughout the set, Lenker works with loose song structures, laid-back instrumentation, and minimal production reminiscent of her earlier work, notably 2018’s Abysskiss. In this way, she backburners her edgier leanings, revisiting a more pure-folk styling. Her soulful voicings and lyrical acumen, however, remain on full display.

Adrianne Lenker (photo by Germaine Dunes)

With “Real House,” Lenker rummages her memory, recalling incidents from childhood (“When I was 7 / … I thought of dying unprepared,” “Do you remember coming to the hospital when I was 14?”). Supported by Nick Hakim’s piano forays — more atmospheric than rhythmic — Lenker integrates accessible images and storylines, prompting complex responses. At the same time, she adeptly avoids judgment, sustaining a neutral yet poetic perspective, the song’s world occurring as pre- and pro-lapsarian, brimming with innocence and innocence lost.

While it’s difficult to separate Big Thief’s songcraft and performances from their production MO, Bright Future focuses largely on unadorned instrumentation and vocals. If Big Thief’s oeuvre is studio-centric (though rarely intrusively so), Bright Future conjures the humble porch or living room. “Sadness As a Gift,” for example, is built around Lenker’s strummed guitar and Josefin Runsteen’s violin parts. The sound is rich and textured, yet also straightforward, translucent.

“Fool” shows Lenker attempting to define a relationship. “Just say what it is you want,” she purrs, accompanied by intriguing guitar flourishes. With “No Machine,” meanwhile, she extends encouraging words to someone who is perhaps struggling with addiction (“the wound lives in your eyes”). Her harmonies with Hakim and Runsteen exude a “first take, best take” vibe.

With “Evol,” Lenker dives into wordplay, offering a series of mirror-image semordnilaps (“evol/love,” “tips eas is sea split”). On one hand, she revels in Seussian absurdism; on the other, her languorous vocal and Runsteen’s melancholy violin passages evoke longing, a sense of trying to make peace with self-consciousness and the feeling of being separate from the rest of creation.

“This whole world is dying,” Lenker sings on “Donut Seam,” “don’t it seem like a good time for swimming.” Using restrained lyrics and varied vocal tones, Lenker is alternately sarcastic and earnest, playing the reluctant doomsdayer and determined optimist, also noting our tendency to seek distractions in a time of crisis (i.e., going for a splash while the planet burns). Lenker, Runsteen, Hakim, and Mat Davidson strike compelling vocal blends on the chorus.

Closer “Ruined” is the album’s most melodically alluring track. Employing sensual hooks and vivid images, and bolstered by a simple piano part, Lenker pivots between ebullience and grief, expressing appreciation for what happened in the past and wistfulness over what will never occur going forward.

With Bright Future, Lenker retreats into a frequently contemplative space, setting aside Big Thief’s genre-defining gestalts and Songs’ more volatile stances. And yet her sublime gift for engaging a listener — via winning melodies and vocals, along with distinct lyrics — is as evident as ever. Lenker’s latest set accentuates her depth and versatility, reminding us that she’s an avant-gardist and a traditionalist, attuned to the future as well as the past.

Adrianne Lenker’s Bright Future is out March 22 on 4AD.