Album reviews

ALT COUNTRY

Big Thief: Two Hands (4AD)

Big Thief’s fourth album comes barely five months after their third, the wilfully difficult U.F.O.F. Where that album focused more on the alternative and less on the country, Two Hands is a far more palatable proposition, and sees a return to the kind of classic songwriting that characterised their first two records. Ambition and innovation are laudable, but not at the expense of the songs ...