Henry Abbott

The other day, my friend Josh Klein invited me on an adventure to photograph wildlife in Freeport. We drove to Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary as it rained. Upon arriving, Josh grabbed his camera and a speaker. We embarked on a brief walk, where we discovered an assortment of views. While making bird calls, searching for chipmunks and sharing disturbing stories about ticks, we listened to artists such as Gregory Alan Isakov and Adrianne Lenker.

We came across a field of beautiful plants illuminated by the setting sun. There was a mass of maroon-colored bushes whose small branches, when crossed against one another, created hexagonal patterns. Josh attempted to climb onto the roof of an abandoned structure while I thought of songs suitable for the moment. We eventually made our way to a stone dam overlooking a creek.

Released in 2019, “U.F.O.F.” is Big Thief’s third album, and—according to the lyrics of “UFOF”—this acronym stands for “UFO friend.” There is certainly something otherworldly about this composition. As we sat at the edge of the creek, I pressed play on the second track of the album, “UFOF,” and increased the volume on Josh’s speaker. The discordance of the song felt like a fitting complement to the moving water below us. Enveloped in calm nature already, “UFOF” appropriately contributed to the ambiance.

Drums and guitar arpeggiation take the first several bars before vocals appear, soft but consistent. The song is trance-like, flowing in its instrumentation. Through both vocal and guitar layering, Big Thief builds tension. At minute 2:12, a lyric-less section is met with interesting electronic sound bites, serving as a sort of climax. The song is generally repetitive with lyrics following mostly the same rhyme pattern throughout.

While we listened to “UFOF,” Josh made various comments on how well the song fits the space we had settled in. Once the recording ended, Josh told me he felt “very peaceful, especially with the setting.” Amidst the fog and darkening trees, the whispery nature of Adrienne Lenker’s voice felt just right.

Josh told me, “There’s this band called Florist that I like. It kind of reminded me of that. I used to listen to this one Florist song before I would go to bed. It reminds me of those memories.”

The song Josh referenced is called “Spring in Hours.” You may recognize Florist from their song “Instrumental 3.” However, Josh’s recommendation is not an instrumental piece but instead prioritizes lyricism. The cadence of the song’s vocals and backing rhythm are quite similar in pattern to those heard in “UFOF.” I entirely understand why Josh would listen to this song before going to sleep. The dreamy qualities of its soundscape feel reminiscent of Big Thief’s music as well.

When asked if he would listen to “UFOF” again, Josh informed me that he had already added it to his liked songs on Spotify. “Overall,” he said, regarding our listening session, “it was a very soothing experience.”

There is something very cyclical about the form of “UFOF.” One of my favorite lyrics is “The best kiss I ever had is the flickering / Of the water so clear and bright.” This creation feels best paired with night or open roads in the late afternoon. It most certainly made sense played aloud at Mast Landing, thus intertwined with the sound of a creek and trees in the wind. Shortly after the song ended, it began to drizzle and then pour. Josh and I ran back to the car, and the water stopped falling on our way.