Big Thief had a busy 2019, as they released a pair of new albums that year: U.F.O.F. came in May, and it was followed in October by Two Hands. It turns out both of those albums stemmed from February 2018, when the group spent the month recording in a Topanga Canyon, California cabin. 34 demos came from those sessions, some of which went on to appear on the aforementioned albums. Now, some of the other ones feature on a new EP from the group, Demos Vol. 1 — Topanga Canyon, CA — Feb 2018.
The band shared the EP today to benefit their touring crew, and it features three previously unreleased songs from the group. “Live Young” can be heard now, while the others can only be experienced after buying the EP on Bandcamp. The EP also features full-band recordings of two songs that ended up on Adrianne Lenker’s solo album Abysskiss: “Blue And Red Horses” and the title track.
Big Thief shared a statement about the release, writing:
“We spent the month of February 2018 in a cabin in Topanga Canyon, California, recording 34 demos that were boiled down to become UFOF and Two Hands, and we’re bringing a handful into light now to share with everyone. We chose 5 of our favorites – none of which appear on any Big Thief records and a couple of which appear in different forms on Adrianne’s abysskiss. 100% of the funds we make from this release will go to our faithful road crew, whose income has been impacted by the disruption in our touring schedule. They are the lifeblood of the Big Thief shows and we care so deeply for each and every one of them.”
Listen to “Live Young” below.