Music

How Big Thief refreshed its emotional palette on 'Double Infinity'

XPN | By Raina Douris,

Published April 4, 2026 at 12:07 PM MDT

The indie rock band's sixth studio album was Big Thief's first as a trio, following the departure of bassist and founding member Max Oleartchik.

Change is the one constant in life. Even the things you feel the most secure in could — and probably will — change.

For Big Thief, one of those big life changes came in 2024, when bassist Max Oleartchik left the band. For the famously tight-knit group, parting with a founding member and bringing in new musicians was a major adjustment.

"We have a language that we've developed with each other that's pretty telepathic, at this point, but as soon as you add one person to that, it just completely refreshes the palette," says guitarist Buck Meek.

Today, the band talks about this new chapter. It's a time of change not just for the band, but in their personal lives too, as they get older.

"I used to feel, like, 'What are you talking about? When I'm in my 30s, I'm not ever going to say "I'm getting old."' And then, of course, the years come and you're, like, 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,' and then you get this whole narrative in your mind of what everyone told you growing up," says lead vocalist Adrianne Lenker.

Plus, Big Thief delivers a stellar performance in the World Cafe studio.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. World Cafe's engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.

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Raina Douris

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She was also involved with Canada's highest music honors: hosting the Polaris Music Prize Gala from 2017 to 2019, as well as serving on the jury for both that award and the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.

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Kimberly Junod

World Cafe senior producer Kimberly Junod has been a part of the World Cafe team since 2001, when she started as the show's first line producer. In 2011 Kimberly launched (and continues to helm) World Cafe's Sense of Place series that includes social media, broadcast and video elements to take listeners across the U.S. and abroad with an intimate look at local music scenes. She was thrilled to be part of the team that received the 2006 ASCAP Deems Taylor Radio Broadcast Award for excellence in music programming. In the time she has spent at World Cafe, Kimberly has produced and edited thousands of interviews and recorded several hundred bands for the program, as well as supervised the show's production staff. She has also taught sound to young women (at Girl's Rock Philly) and adults (as an "Ask an Engineer" at WYNC's Werk It! Women's Podcast Festival).

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