Adrianne Lenker
“That Lenker can be as open-hearted and empathetic as she is, in light of all she has gone through, should be considered a gift to listeners.” – Pitchfork
Adrianne Lenker juggles two distinctive, but kindred careers – her solo work and her work as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Big Thief. Whereas Big Thief is a four-piece band focused on folk-rock, under her own name she favors bare, finger-plucked songs. The Minnesota-raised singer-songwriter released her first solo album, Stages of the Sun, at just fourteen years old. Less than a decade later she joined forces with Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia to form Big Thief, whose first album was released in 2016. She marked her return to solo work with her 2018 album Abysskiss. Lenker recently released two more solo albums, Songs and Instrumentals, in 2020. Both albums were conceived in the aftermath of a breakup and after touring with Big Thief was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
