Capacity
A warm, tape-saturated masterclass in intimate indie folk. Recorded in a secluded farmhouse, these songs feel like fragile, deeply personal family secrets.
A warm, tape-saturated masterclass in intimate indie folk. Recorded in a secluded farmhouse, these songs feel like fragile, deeply personal family secrets.
Critical peak
Tape hiss and the creak of a wooden floorboard anchor these songs in a drafty upstate New York farmhouse, turning raw folk-rock into something that feels like shared skin. While their debut chased a wilder, louder storm, this second record finds its power by leaning in close, perfecting a quiet, heavy-lidded intimacy where every guitar pluck vibrates in your chest. The drums thump like a heartbeat in an empty room, and the vocals sit so near your ear you can hear the intake of breath before each devastating line. It is the precise moment a young band stopped performing and started breathing together.
A drafty cabin in woods atmosphere envelops the entire record, a product of its secluded farmhouse recording process that infuses the songs with a physical, creaking isolation rarely felt so intensely in their other work.
Critics warmly welcomed the album as an evocative step forward, praising its delicate fusion of poetic folk-rock, raw intensity, and captivating songwriting. Reviewers were deeply moved by how the band navigates heavy themes of family history and personal trauma, uncovering complex, quiet truths within a rich and absorbing musical landscape.
“Capacity may not be breaking any new boundaries. But with a songwriter as undeniable as Lenker, it doesn’t need to”Read review
“Ambiguity and intensity is there from the start”Read review
“Simply a better record than Masterpiece. No contest. The catchy songs are catchier; the melodies are tighter; the peaks and troughs dip higher and lower”Read review
“Funny, propulsive, queer, dissonant, and utterly intoxicating, it gilds a record to put on next time some stooge tells you indie rock is dead”Read review
“Beautifully excavates family history and trauma into a delicate, intricately built folk rock record, showcasing the gorgeous style of singer Adrianne Lenker”Read review
“Both a logical successor to Masterpiece as well as a great leap forward”Read review
“Big Thief’s sophomore release takes on a more reserved sound without sacrificing emotional, quality songwriting”Read review
“Adrianne Lenker peels back the "pretty things" to find a more interesting truth”Read review
“There’s plenty more heavy material to uncover (including a song called "Coma"), though it’s all wrapped in a captivating musicality that combines the power of folk storytelling, poetry, and rock angst”Read review
“From Capacity emanates a maturity and refinement that sounds of a group of musicians truly hitting their stride”Read review
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