Adrianne Lenker comes out meekly on Bright Future, her first solo album since 2020's Songs/Instrumentals. Kicking off with arguably the collection's weakest track, the lead singer of Big Thief takes her time settling in but establishes early that the Bright Future will not be rushed. The subsequent 11 tunes range from completely inoffensive to goddamn beautiful, but the simple arrangements, acoustic guitar plus another instrument or two (some combination of piano/violin/banjo/percussion), allow the songs to breathe, and in doing so amplify Lenker's songwriting prowess. 

I've previously written that when I saw Big Thief live, my mind couldn't shake off the Neil Young vibes pervading Lenker's performance. This album does nothing to dissuade. One can imagine Mr. Young crafting a similar set, nestled among those all-acoustic albums that rank as personal favorites in his vast canon. Lenker even matches the Canadian's interest in fidelity. (For the audiophile nerds, myself included, Bright Future was recorded direct to tape, and for those picking up the LP (side note to my wife who worries about my vinyl addiction: I have not purchased this album. Yet.), it's all analogue, AAA, just like Songs/Instrumentals. She's also released it in 24-bit quality, for the non-vinyl audiophile nerds who are into that sort of thing; again just like Songs/Instrumentals.) For a musician with an impressive, prolific past and a sterling present, the future is indeed bright.