Big Thief, O2 Academy Brixton, London: a spellbinding, eclectic end to four-night Brixton Academy residency

And over the course of the next hour or so, the pursuit of such collective kinship informs Big Thief’s every move. Opener ‘Real House’ - actually an Adrianne solo effort - is rendered fuller-bodied with her bandmates’ backing, flooring in a whole new way as it builds to a crescendo so resonant that drummer James Krivchenia temporarily loses a cymbal. Later, Laraaji returns onstage to bolster the expansive, extended ‘No Fear’ with autoharp ambience, its hypnotic looping rendering us deliciously punch-drunk. Elsewhere, unreleased tracks ‘Christmas Day’ and ‘Forgive The Dream’ see Buck and Adrianne assume power stances of sorts - his leaning forward, as if waiting for a starting gun, hers a wide-legged, grounding posture - as they seem to tune into some higher frequency, broadcasting on a wavelength both strikingly specific and disarmingly universal.

The only things that break the spell are a welfare incident in the crowd (which false-starts ‘Double Infinity’) and an endearing tuning issue during another new song, ‘Casual Touch’: “oh”, Adrianne sings, before frowning down at her guitar and issuing a more disgruntled “oh!”, as the rest of the band cock their heads quizzically. Both moments, though, are merely minor detours, and the band steer us swiftly back on course with the instinctual, almost psychic chemistry of a decade spent sharing a stage.

Never were people so understated in the face of such hysteria: everything Adrianne says is met with fervent cheering and shouts of “I love you!”, and the assembled crowd is peppered with signs begging the band to play a dozen different much-cherished tracks. Although, she apologises, they can’t oblige (“We’ve got a curfew, sorry!”), their choices speak of an innate understanding of their fanbase - people who aren’t here to see certain songs, as much as they are to commune.

Delicately walking the tightrope between eclectic and obtuse, the band have refreshed their setlist for each of these Brixton shows, treating fans to rarely-aired offerings and plenty of fresh material as well as, tonight, ‘Simulation Swarm’ and ‘Vampire Empire’ - Big Thief’s closest approximations to a ‘hit’, which swell with the wistful breath of a whole room exhaling as one. Perhaps most potent, though, is ‘not a lot, just forever’: an impossibly delicate, effortlessly devastating track, also pulled from Adrianne’s solo catalogue, that’s met with a pin-drop silence utterly belying the number of beating hearts in the room - but entirely in line with the veneration Big Thief inspire. Happy to throw curveballs without ever being contrary, they’re a band that, no matter their size, will perhaps always feel as if they’re performing just for you.

Tags: Big Thief, Reviews, Live Reviews