There's a lot to like about Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker, who's honesty and passion for songwriting has been at the heart of the New York group's music across two albums, 2016's Masterpiece and 2017's Capacity. Ahead of the release on May 3 of Big Thief's third album U.F.O.F. the band have this week dropped the song Cattails and Lenker was typically sincere in her description of how the song came about.

"Cattails came about while we were at the studio in Washington in the pine forest," she said. "Writing it was just one of those electric multicoloured waves of connectivity just sweeping through my body. I stayed up late finishing the song and the next morning was stomping around playing it over and over again. We thought why not just record it, so James (Krivchenia) sat at the drums and we practiced and by the time we'd finished practicing, Dom Monks - our engineer - had already sneakily set up mics and recorded it. It was beautiful that he'd captured it right away because when James and I were playing it felt like a little portal in the fabric had opened and we were just flying. Listening back to it makes me cry sometimes."

Big Thief, who call Brooklyn home, have been to Australia a couple of times in their short time together and been touring almost relentlessly since releasing Masterpiece. The group has signed to the 4AD label and U.F.O.F. will be released locally by Remote Control Records.

album of the week
Charlie Marshall and the Body Electric
Shiny and New
(Independent)
★★★
Maybe it's the thrill of budget week or the need for an antidote, but after sitting on Sticky's desk for a few weeks Charlie Marshall's new long player Shiny and New finally got a spin and it's still spinning, thanks largely to the hope on offer here. Not exactly known for his upbeat style, this is a groovy, soul-inspired departure that's brimming with joy, loads of horns and a couple of covers too, Marvin Gaye's Mercy Mercy Me and Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up among them. Marshall (Harem Scarem, the Curious Minds) brought a hugely energised, optimistic outlook to this project and it shines nice and brightly.

selecta
Am I Doing It Right? - Alex Lahey
Demise - Harmony Byrne
Soul Sinister - Mono Deluxe (feat. Kylie Auldist)