Incomprehensible - Big Thief

I love you, Adrianne Lenker

There’s no shortage of songs out there that decry the thought of getting older. Admittedly, I’d agree that the whole process is scary and, as a woman, even scarier. Since birth, there’s been a ticking time bomb strapped to our chest: start using retinol at 18, to avoid wrinkles at 25; get married by 30, so you can still have children before 35. Getting older, as a woman, also means trying to stop that process from reflecting on you. Despite being hyper-critical of the standards placed on women, I’m also an active participant, constantly attracted to ways I can preserve my youth as much as possible.

Big Thief’s new single, “Incomprehensible,” released ahead of their album, Double Infinity, shifts the conversation around beauty and aging. It seems that as young women are finding new (and creative) ways to reverse the aging process, they’re also aware of how these trends feed insecurity into young women. The band’s lead singer, Adrianne Lenker, with her gifted prose and songwriting ability, shifts the perspective on aging, told through the story of the days leading up to her 33rd birthday.

Big Thief.

The second verse hits at her feelings on aging:

“I’m afraid of getting older,” that’s what I’ve learned to say

Society has given me the words to think that way

The message spirals, “Don’t get saggy, don’t get grey”

But the soft and lovely silvers are now fallin’ on my shoulder

My mother and my grandma, my great-grandmother too

Wrinkle like the river, sweeten like the dew

And as silver as the rainbow scales that shimmer purple blue

How can beauty that is living be anything but true?”

It’s a beautiful tribute not only to her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother (too), but to herself. It’s one thing to see beauty in others, and another to see it in yourself.

The single takes on more ambitious production than their past projects, with its whirlwind melodies and groovy percussion, as compared to their usual avant-garde-folk style. This is already a contender for SOTY for me, and I can’t wait for the new album.