Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

I dredged until the 9th track and then realized that this stuff blows. It's long, it's monotonous, it's bloated and it has that god-forsaken late 2000s/early 2010 indie musical feel that won't die out, and that I want to lock in a basement for the next 30 years and then unleash as INDIE REVIVAL (ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ). I'll finish this by saying: go listen to Everlum, Elliot Smith, or Sufjan Stevens instead of this, you'll thank me later.

Amazing and beautiful.

Fantastic album. I think mixing in some indie rock flavor really elevates the folk aspects and gives the album a lot more variety than most folk albums have. Lenker's voice is really unique and powerful too.

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You arrived with enormous critical baggage, which I largely ignored going in. First impression: slight country alarm bells from Adrianne Lenker’s voice, which luckily didn’t pan out.

“Time Escaping” sets the bar high early. That rhythm section is incredible, and for a moment it suggests the album might fully grab me. It doesn’t, quite, which is an interesting place to land with a record this good.

The craft is undeniable. Lenker is a genuine talent, and Big Thief play with a looseness that takes years to develop. But the album feels sequenced for range rather than momentum, and for me that creates unevenness rather than depth.

The more straightforward folk songs are consistent and subtle, but rarely surprising.

When it strays, it’s excellent. “Little Things” brings needed energy, “Flower of Blood” edges into shoegaze, and “Blurred View” has a Portishead-adjacent haze that feels genuinely unexpected. “Love Love Love” stopped me cold twice. These are real highlights.

“Simulation Swarm,” the consensus favorite, did nothing for me.

Ambitious, and often impressive, but it doesn’t fully land as a whole. The standout tracks form a coherent subset I’ll return to.

3,5*

Diverse enough to hold interest throughout which is not simple for a eighty minute album

Long, but pretty all the same. Adrianne Lenker has the perfect voice for this kind of music, and there's some genuine all-timers on this album.

This was pretty much new to me but I really enjoyed it.

Hipster folk. Not bad.

One thing about the album cover.....that bear is CAKED UP!! Look at them cheeks!!!!

Favorite songs: Change, Red Moon, No Reason, Blue Lightning, Spud Infinity, Certainty

Least favorite songs: Sparrow, Wake Me Up to Drive

3/5

More or less alternates between interesting vibey pieces, and boring folk noodling. Overall pretty pleasant

Surprised at how well this works. Hi-fi folk.

There is definitely a much better representation of new music on this list vs the book, this being a great example of it.

This is like listening to your hippie friend at a folk fest campfire. If you are high by they time they take out their synthesizer, its a good time. If you would rather sleep in your tent and try to forget how gross you are, its pretty damn tedious.

Charming stuff. It could grow on me.