Adrianne Lenker’s 2020 album Songs is a tender collection of songs covering love, death, and growth.
Adrianne Lenker is a folk singer songwriter and is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the indie group Big Thief along with her solo work.
During the pandemic, Lenker escaped to a secluded, Walden-esque cabin to write and record the album. Chimes, birdsongs, and the sound of the Massechusets wilderness serve as a backing track on the project.
Acoustic guitar dominates the instrumentation on Songs. Adrianne Lenker’s skill as a guitarist is unmatched. Songs shows off her subtle genius with the soft, rhythmic fingerpicking that is a throughline through the work.
Lenker is also an incredible lyricist; her work features gut wrenching lines like “As the coastline is shaped by the wind/ As we make love and you’re on my skin/You are changing me, you are changing” from “dragon eyes”. She weaves together a tightly knit bundle of poetry and emotion with a warm, delicate instrumentation.
For me, this album is about earnest love and longing. Even in the grieving, Adrianne can’t help but be gentle. On “come”, she describes the journey of a dying mother comforting her daughter. Despite its unforgiving cruelty, the song focuses on the care and love we pour into each other even though we are destined to lose each other.
Songs is the hug I need at the end of a long day. I feel so at home in the chords and the words. I am eternally grateful to Adrianne Lenker for creating this album that I hold so dear.