Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker is the best kind of omniscient narrator. She doesn’t step into her stories as much as she does inhabit them, perceiving herself as a quiet observer who understands that love can swing between attraction and resentment. The characters she writes about have specific names: Lorraine, Paul, Marie, Randy, and so forth. That notion of specificity allows us to visualise these very familiar stories more clearly, whether through patient consolation or as victims ourselves.
This peculiar narrative is what gives Masterpiece, Big Thief’s debut full-length, its beauty and meaning. Never does Lenker complicate things to make herself sound either too clever or well-read, and it’s through a very straightforward choice of words that she manages to engage. She also expects you to pay the right amount of attention as opposed to just giving it all away through an undemanding chorus, though the same could be said about Big Thief‘s turbulent musical choices.