In an industry known for its ruthless search for the next big thing, Adrianne Lenker is in it for the long haul. The 32-year-old American musician speaks as though she is in the early stages of a marathon: she is a “craftsperson”, who wrote her first song aged eight, and recorded her debut album at 13. “I still consider myself a beginner,” she says. “I have so many years left to work on writing songs.”
But the pace she is going at is closer to a sprint. Lenker is the lead singer, primary songwriter and guitarist of acclaimed folk rock band Big Thief; their fifth album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, was a sprawling 20-track release described by the Observer as “wonderful … their most varied and expansive record to date”. She has just released her fifth solo album, Bright Future, after 2020’s double offering Songs and
