Rising indie quartet Big Thief have surprise-released a new song called “Certainty” that was written and recorded directly to 4-track during a three-day power outage. The recorder was plugged into a cigarette lighter, according to the announcement.
Guitarist Buck Meek explained the complicated jerry-rigged recording process. “On the third day of the outage, I found Adrianne on the porch writing a new song, so I sat with her and we finished it together, with the rain falling from the gutters splashing over our guitars,” he says in the announcement. “James and Sam saw us writing, and quickly set up a four track tape machine in the kitchen, powered by the F250 cigarette lighter out in the yard. They set up the drums by the sink, and Max plugged his bass into a bluetooth speaker set on top of the stove. Take 2 had a great bark from Sam and Hannah’s pup Jan during the solo, but we ended up going with take 3 because it took us about that long to learn the chords. Then we made pancakes and sausages and ate breakfast for dinner.”
The recording took place during sessions at Sam Evian’s Flying Cloud Studios, with harmonies from Hannah Cohen.
The group starts a month-long U.S. tour tonight in Kentucky — full dates appear below.BIGTHIEFTOUR DATES
Tue. Sept. 7 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall * – SOLD OUT
Wed. Sept. 8 – Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI – SOLD OUT *
Fri. Sept. 10 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Sat. Sept. 11 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
Sun. Sept. 12 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall *
Tue. Sept. 14 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater ^
Wed. Sept. 15 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater ^
Fri. Sept. 17 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Downstairs ^
Sat. Sept. 18 – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre ^
Mon. Sept. 20 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium *
Tue. Sept. 21 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern *
Wed. Sept. 22 – Raleigh, NC @ North Carolina Museum of Art +
Fri. Sept. 24 – Richmond, VA @ The National #
Sat. Sept. 25 – Queens, NY @ The Governors Ball Music Festival
Mon. Sept. 27 – Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall &
Tue. Sept. 28 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground – SOLD OUT #
Thu. Sept. 30 – Northampton, MA @ Pines Theatre – SOLD OUT %
Fri. Oct. 1 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer – SOLD OUT *
Sat. Oct. 2 -Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer – SOLD OUT *
Mon. Jan. 31, 2022 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef
Tue. Feb. 1, 2022 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale
Fri. Feb. 4, 2022 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
Sat. Feb. 5, 2022 – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo
Mon. Feb. 7, 2022 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur
Tue. Feb. 8, 2022 – Strasbourg, FR @ La Laiterie Artefact
Wed. Feb. 9, 2022 – Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten
Thu. Feb. 10, 2022 – Munich, DE @ Cafe Muffathalle
Sat. Feb. 12, 2022 – Prague, CZ @ MeetFactory
Sun. Feb. 13, 2022 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt
Tue. Feb. 15, 2022 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
Wed. Feb. 16, 2022 – Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik
Fri. Feb. 18, 2022 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall
Sat. Feb. 19, 2022 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal
Mon. Feb. 21, 2022 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli Vredgenburg
Tue. Feb. 22, 2022 – Groningen, NL @ De Oosterpoort
Thu. Feb. 24, 2022 – Manchester, GB @ Manchester Academy
Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 – Glasgow, GB @ 02 Academy Bristol
Wed. Mar. 2, 2022 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Thu. Mar. 3, 2022 – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Fri. Mar. 4, 2022 – – London, GB @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Thu. Jun. 9, 2022 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound 2022
*with Mind Maintenance
^with Jimmy Stallings
#with Natural Information Society
+with Molly Sarlé
%with Alex G
&with Buck Meek
