Big Thief's *Sometimes, Forever* is a sixty-eight-minute study in restraint and earned patience. Recorded unhurried at Studio G Brooklyn, the album captures raw authenticity—every breath, every fingernail scrape—through technical precision deployed in service of emotional depth rather than display. James Krivchenia's responsive drumming and Buck Meek's considered guitar work create space for Adrianne Lenker's voice to exist without ornament. This is music that demands stillness and rewards deep listening.
⚡ Quick Answer: Sometimes, Forever is Big Thief's masterpiece—a patient, sixty-eight-minute album built on trust and restraint. Recorded unhurried at Studio G Brooklyn, it captures raw authenticity: every breath, every fingernail scrape. The band's technical precision serves emotional depth rather than display, with James Krivchenia's responsive drumming and Buck Meek's considered guitar work creating space for Adrianne Lenker's voice to simply exist. This is music that demands stillness.
There is a moment in “Certainty” where Adrianne Lenker’s voice cracks on a single syllable and the whole band seems to lean into it like they’d been waiting for that exact imperfection to arrive.
Sometimes, Forever is sixty-eight minutes long and it earns every one of them. Recorded mostly at Studio G Brooklyn with engineer Dom Monks, the sessions were unhurried in a way that most records can’t afford to be anymore. The band had been living in each other’s pockets for years — Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek on guitar, Max Oleander on bass, James Krivchenia on drums — and it shows. Not in a way that reads as comfortable or complacent. In a way that reads as trust.
The Room They Made
Krivchenia has said he wanted the percussion to feel like it was being discovered in real time, and you can hear exactly what he means. He’s not driving the songs so much as responding to them. There’s a moment in “Spud Infinity” where the rhythm seems to dissolve completely and then reconstitute itself from somewhere else entirely, and it’s among the stranger and more beautiful things I’ve heard a drummer do without showing off about it.
Meek’s guitar work here deserves its own paragraph. He has this quality — a kind of benevolent restraint — where every note he doesn’t play is as considered as the ones he does. On “Time Escaping” the two guitars wrap around each other in this doubled spiral that makes the song feel like it’s always been playing, like you’re tuning into something mid-transmission.
Lenker wrote most of this after Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, which came out the same year in February. Two albums in 2022. Both of them good. That shouldn’t be possible.
What It Actually Sounds Like
The production is dry in the best way. No reverb shimmer softening the corners. No compression fattening the transients into something more radio-ready. Monks captured the room without romanticizing it. When Lenker breathes between lines, you hear the breath. When her fingernails graze the fretboard between chord changes, that’s on the record too.
“Blowing Mind” opens with this low, woody acoustic tone and builds into something almost psychedelic by the end — not through effects but through repetition and patience. The band understands that duration is its own kind of texture.
“Palm Trees” is the one that got me the first time through. It’s a simple song structurally, but it carries this ache that I can’t fully explain and have stopped trying to. Lenker doesn’t perform emotion so much as let it pass through her. There’s a difference, and most singers never find it.
The record closes with “Blue Lightning,” which runs nearly eleven minutes and feels like it could go on longer without overstaying its welcome. They don’t resolve it so much as let it settle. Like dust. Like the way a room sounds after everyone leaves.
Put this one on when the house is quiet. Give it the good speakers. Let it take its time.
Further Reading
🎵 Key Takeaways
- ⚡ Sometimes, Forever is a 68-minute album where every second is justified—recorded unhurried at Studio G Brooklyn with zero compression shimmer, capturing every breath and fingernail scrape.
- 🥁 James Krivchenia's drumming feels discovered in real time rather than driven, dissolving and reconstituting rhythms without showing off—see 'Spud Infinity' for the strangest thing you'll hear a drummer do.
- 🎸 Buck Meek practices 'benevolent restraint,' making every note he doesn't play as considered as the ones he does, with doubled guitars on 'Time Escaping' spiraling like the song's always been playing.
- 🎤 Adrianne Lenker doesn't perform emotion—she lets it pass through her; a voice crack on 'Certainty' becomes the moment the whole band leans in, trusting imperfection over polish.
- 📀 The production is aggressively dry with no reverb or radio-ready compression, while 'Blowing Mind' builds from woody acoustic into psychedelia through repetition and patience rather than effects.
Where was Sometimes, Forever recorded and what made the production approach different from typical albums?
It was recorded at Studio G Brooklyn with engineer Dom Monks using unhurried sessions that most modern records can't afford anymore. The production is intentionally dry—no reverb shimmer or compression fattening—capturing the room authentically: audible breaths, fingernail scrapes on fretboards, and all the imperfections that usually get polished away.
How does James Krivchenia's drumming approach differ on this album?
Krivchenia aimed to make the percussion feel discovered in real time rather than driving the songs. He responds to the music instead of leading it, with moments like 'Spud Infinity' where the rhythm dissolves completely and reconstitutes from elsewhere—a technical achievement that never announces itself.
What was Big Thief's situation in 2022 when this came out?
Adrianne Lenker wrote most of Sometimes, Forever after Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, which was also released in February 2022. Big Thief released two substantial albums in the same year, an uncommon feat for any band.
Which tracks best showcase the album's production philosophy and emotional depth?
'Palm Trees' carries an unexplainable ache through simplicity, 'Blowing Mind' builds from woody acoustic tones into psychedelia through patience rather than effects, and 'Blue Lightning' runs nearly eleven minutes with unresolved settling that never overstays its welcome.
Further Reading
Further Reading