Big Picture

Description

A gorgeous and gripping portrait of Fennes last two years, Big Picture was pieced together in an effort to self-soothe. Tracked live in co-producer Brad Cooks North Carolina studio, the album delineates the phases of love and becomes a map of comfort vs claustrophobia. Though its creation took place amid personal and global turmoil, the ruminative yet candid Big Picture is Fennes most cohesive, resolute work to date, both lyrically and sonically. This isnt a sad album its about as uplifting as my way of doing things will allow, she says. These songs explore worry and doubt and letting go, but those themes are framed brightly. With confidence and quiet strength, each track provides an insight into Fennes ever-changing view of love and, ultimately, its redefinition love as a process, not something to be lost and found. While the album was written alone in Fennes Bristol flat a fact intentionally reflected in its compact sonic quality Big Picture was transformed from a solitary venture into a unifying collaboration during the recording process when she was joined by her touring band, Melina Dutere of Jay Som (mixing), Christian Lee Hutson (guitar and co production), and Katy Kirby (vocals). Notably, these 10 songs are Fennes first and only to have been written over the course of a relationship; 2018s On Hold and 2020s BREACH both confront the pain of retrospection, saying goodbye to a love thats gone. Big Picture does the exact opposite rooted firmly in the present, it traces the narrative of two people trying their hardest not to implode, together. This album is an observation of the way I think about love, the self[1]examination that comes with closeness and the responsibilities involved in being a big part of someone elses small(er) world, summarizes Fenne. It was written in a place of relative emotional stability stability that felt unstable because of its newness, but also because of the global context. 2020 was the year of letting go, but wed all already let go of so much and nothing felt like mine anymore. Writing always did, though, so thats what I chose to do.