A common thread throughout Fenne Lily's Big Picture is the way our feelings of love are based on the specific circumstance at a given moment, and which stars aligned for that emotion to be born into existence. On her third studio album, the British indie-folk songwriter is beyond writing breakup songs — instead, she's exploring the process of working together with that special someone to find the balance of give and take, and making note of whatever lasting impressions stay with us after we've moved on when things don't work out.
Big Picture's lead single "Lights Light Up," succinctly spells out that uncertainty on the song's inquisitive chorus as Lily sings in a low, warm voice, "And you said / So do you ever wanna leave here? / And I said / Well that depends on the day / And you said / Oh, do you even wanna be here? / And I said / Well that depends on the way." Driven by delightfully playful interlocking riffs by guitarist Joe Sherrin, "Lights Light Up" demonstrates Lily's way of finding gentle harmony between directly introspective lyrics and incredibly pleasing, golden instrumentals. Contrary to the album's subject matter, Lily does not imbue any discernible level of anxiety into her songs, but rather breathes calmness as a way of acceptance. "It's not working out this time / But you're putting up a pretty good fight," Lily casually sighs on album opener "Map of Japan."
Written over the course of a relationship during the heart of the pandemic years, Big Picture feels wide open and contemplative, asking questions and feeling around for answers rather than staying insular and shut in. This re-opening of intimacy somehow allows Lily to turn even further inward, analyzing with a deeper self awareness and empathy towards the other's perspective.
The achingly beautiful piano ballad "Henry" and dawdling folk single "In My Own Time" are both filled with words of understanding and dotted with delicately spaced percussion, like marking the period at the end of her transitory observations. As also heard on her last album BREACH, Lily's clean and refined songwriting on Big Picture has her following in the footsteps of the similarly polished and venerable Laura Marling while sharing an emotionally intuitive sharpness and tongue-in-cheek propensity with fellow contemporaries like Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers.
On the airy and nimble "Pick," Lily asks, "Did I pick a bad time to love you?" grappling with the fact that sometimes a special chemistry forms when things line up a certain way and it falls apart when they doesn't. At what point do we learn to cherish the present moments and how do we not let the overwhelming fear that good things will come to an end overtake us? Big Picture is an exercise in expressing both of these viewpoints, by taking a step back and realizing that each of our situations are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Later during the song, Lily states, "That love is a delicate string that you lend and carry around / When is it unravelling and when's it just rewound" – a pretty damn good thesis on the matter.
(Dead Oceans)Big Picture's lead single "Lights Light Up," succinctly spells out that uncertainty on the song's inquisitive chorus as Lily sings in a low, warm voice, "And you said / So do you ever wanna leave here? / And I said / Well that depends on the day / And you said / Oh, do you even wanna be here? / And I said / Well that depends on the way." Driven by delightfully playful interlocking riffs by guitarist Joe Sherrin, "Lights Light Up" demonstrates Lily's way of finding gentle harmony between directly introspective lyrics and incredibly pleasing, golden instrumentals. Contrary to the album's subject matter, Lily does not imbue any discernible level of anxiety into her songs, but rather breathes calmness as a way of acceptance. "It's not working out this time / But you're putting up a pretty good fight," Lily casually sighs on album opener "Map of Japan."
Written over the course of a relationship during the heart of the pandemic years, Big Picture feels wide open and contemplative, asking questions and feeling around for answers rather than staying insular and shut in. This re-opening of intimacy somehow allows Lily to turn even further inward, analyzing with a deeper self awareness and empathy towards the other's perspective.
The achingly beautiful piano ballad "Henry" and dawdling folk single "In My Own Time" are both filled with words of understanding and dotted with delicately spaced percussion, like marking the period at the end of her transitory observations. As also heard on her last album BREACH, Lily's clean and refined songwriting on Big Picture has her following in the footsteps of the similarly polished and venerable Laura Marling while sharing an emotionally intuitive sharpness and tongue-in-cheek propensity with fellow contemporaries like Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers.
On the airy and nimble "Pick," Lily asks, "Did I pick a bad time to love you?" grappling with the fact that sometimes a special chemistry forms when things line up a certain way and it falls apart when they doesn't. At what point do we learn to cherish the present moments and how do we not let the overwhelming fear that good things will come to an end overtake us? Big Picture is an exercise in expressing both of these viewpoints, by taking a step back and realizing that each of our situations are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Later during the song, Lily states, "That love is a delicate string that you lend and carry around / When is it unravelling and when's it just rewound" – a pretty damn good thesis on the matter.
