Music Column

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You - Album Review

As Valentine's Day wrapped its arms around February, amidst the celebration of love, we listened to an album that resonated deeply with us about the complexities of life, change, and the bittersweet nature of existence. The album was Big Thief’s fifth studio album after three years of inactivity starting around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You" is not your conventional love album. It’s a beautiful album for those who yearn for a deep connection and intimacy with the very music that you listen to. Every note and lyric struck us deeply and we hope it does for you too. 

Throughout this entire album, Big Thief bounces around in both sound, location, and subject. In their recording of this project, Big Thief had several producers and curated these songs in several regions of the United States, taking influence from each of the regions they recorded in. We see a recurrence of a few themes in this installment both within the lyricism and how the music plays around the region. As Big Thief traveled, their music evolved to encapsulate the regional differences displayed within the genre of Folk. For example, “Simulation Swarm” has a completely different sound compared to “Sparrow”. Almost like they could be from different albums. However, this illustrates the intricacies of both Big Thief’s music and Lenker’s voice, both of which have the power to control our emotions greatly.

This entire month has been so busy and full of deadlines, so all we’ve been doing these past two weeks is laying in bed and listening to Big Thief. From the first track, "Change," Big Thief sets the tone for thought-provoking and introspective lyrics. Adrianne Lenker's vocals draw listeners into a world where change is inevitable, yet often accompanied by a sense of loss. She sings, “Would you live forever, never die? While everything around passes?”. Every time we listen to this line there’s this expectation for her to finish the phrase with the word “by”. But we think the incompleteness of the line is purposeful and meant to be symbolic. Could living forever really be fulfilling if you’re the only one left? Each song on the album delves into life's uncertainties. The lyrics are very endearing, beautiful, and simple but always fully convey her theme. They convey a sense of catharsis, emotion being released with every passing poetic word. They’re about simple but big things that are most perplexing when you start thinking about them. How are we living? How can we grasp infinity? Just the bizarreness of being human, when you have a moment of realizing that you're here. 

We decided to share this album with our art teacher Mr. Koller during class. However, he was quite indifferent towards it and offered no comment. Later on, finally speaking his truth, he confessed that he found the album to be “too overstimulating”. While this album was our favorite this month, it failed to bring out the same response from Mr. Koller. “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” is a cherished reminder to us that connection, in all its forms, is a constant presence in our lives. Give the album a listen and let us know what you think!

Listen to: “Simulation Swarm,” “Heavy Bend, ”and “Certainty”. They’re our favorite songs on the album.