The alien abduction that happens in the lyrics of Big Thief’s new song, “UFOF,” is nearly as strange and beautiful as the one that happens in the music. Throughout their catalog, the Brooklyn-based quartet is rootsy without sounding tethered to the past; intimate without needing to define any specific emotion. “UFOF,” the title track from their third album (and first for 4AD), is a fantasy that should be familiar to anyone who grew up somewhere small, dreaming of an outside force—a spaceship, a rock band—to touch down and make you feel different.
From the start, Big Thief have excelled at finding new lenses for familiar scenes, and “UFOF” extends their scope to science fiction. The sweep of fingerpicked acoustic guitars and airtight rhythm forms a new type of groove for the band—their version, maybe, of an arpeggiated synth and a drum loop. “I imagine you taking me out of here,” Adrianne Lenker sings, gazing heavenward as the music tumbles in anticipation. And when nothing comes to save her, she has no choice but to do it herself.
