After another almost unforgivable hiatus, I'm back and I've decided to go a bit eclectic this next couple of weeks, semi-randomly digging through some of the songs I've liked over the past few years.
This one, from 2017, starts with a mysterious maze of guitar chords - it's like a maze of sound you need to fight your way through. You feel lost, almost too confused, and then, the reward as you break free: the relief of a muted strummed guitar coming in from the left.
That confusion at the start of Shark Smile is held for an admirably long time - over 40 seconds. It's brave and bold, and shows real confidence from Big Thief.
Back to the strumming, which is quickly joined by steady drumming, and never lets up. This is used to brilliant effect to set the pace of the song and perfectly suggest the feel of a road trip.
That's what the song is about, and by the time you're at the middle of it, you've probably forgotten that frenetic start, lulled and absorbed into a tune which is by now, on the surface, quite upbeat - a road trip song, sounding absolutely all-American. But listen more closely, and you start getting the feeling that all may not be well. There's a hint of tragedy there, and this subtly develops, the story arc sliding into loss.
The vocals - delivered by Adrianne Lenker in a wonderfully lazy, bar room style - begin to crack occasionally.
Then, those harsh guitars are back, acting as a discomfiting solo, and hanging on a bit too long - almost like a siren at times.
The song ends almost peacefully, that guitar still strumming through, but it's the peacefulness of loss.
Here's more on the background to the song, from NPR. The insight into the recording process is really interesting to read.