Bright Future is a solo album by Big Thief member Adrianne Lenker. This album is real, soulful, and elegant.
Lenker opens Bright Future with “Real House” which has a soothing piano introduction leading into Lenker’s delicate falsetto. Lenker leaves mystery in her lyrics, giving us just the right amount of her story, leaving the rest up to imagination.
“No Machine” has beautiful analogies about being together, with someone, and the feeling of being lost without each other. Lenker’s voice quivers as she sings, as if she is afraid of the feeling that she is singing about.
The fifth track on the album, “Free Treasure,” has a soft sound that encompasses its lyrics: “Do you wanna dance? I trip on my shoes and I trip on my shirt.” Here, she is showing the romance found in flaws and how beautiful things are not always perfect.
“Evol” has an expressive piano and violin filled with emotion flowing through every note. This song follows the idea that “love spells evol, backwards” going through different anadromes with completely different meanings spelled backward. The words that she uses such as “teach, cheat, part, trap” portray a deeper meaning, giving Lenker’s word play a new perspective.
“Already Lost” starts out with a subtle layered harmony. The production of this song brought so many elements to blend and work extremely well together. Every second there is a different element incorporated, continuing the enrichment of the song. Lenker does a wonderful job at twisting her voice in many different ways in this song almost playfully.
“Cell Phone Says” is so peaceful that it creates a lullaby-sounding tone throughout the song. This song is an acoustic number, just Lenker and a guitar accompaniment. Lenker has a way of burying herself fully into her music, and it shows in this song.
The tenth song on the album, “Donut Seam,” is a heartbreaking number about experiencing no hope left in a love that was once so strong. “I flew in front of everyone , and burned up in the flame / now it’s pouring acid rain” is again showing us how Lenker exposes herself in her music, and throughout this album.
Bright Future is a melancholy album where Adrianne Lenker is vulnerable and expressive in the emotions that she worked her way through in this album. Each track is pretty in its own way and Lenker invites us all to join the journey of each of her songs.
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