It’s no secret that Big Thief vocalist Adrianne Lenker is an incredibly prolific artist. Last year, Big Thief released two albums just a few months apart but when the rest of the band’s 2020 tour was cut short, Lenker camped out in a cabin and began recording even more music.
Transforming those recordings into two more solo albums, Lenker shared her records Songs and Instrumentals on Friday. Instrumentals, as declared in its title, boasts two lengthy works which are fully instrumental while Songs contains 11 full tracks. To celebrate the release of the two projects, Lenker depicted her song “Zombie Girl” with an equally-peaceful video.
Filmed by Philip Weinrobe and Lenker herself, the “Zombie Girl” video offers a serene, slice-of-life glance at the singer’s quarantine location. The song itself is touched with samples of the cabin’s surrounding birds and its visual aims to capture the area’s tranquil nature.
In an interview with the New Yorker ahead of her double album release, Lenker touched on her “Zombie Girl” track. “There’s a fullness that happens when someone is focused on you,” Lenker said. “For me, if I’m being fully looked at and paid attention to and seen, I’m filled up by that.” She continued, “Now there isn’t anyone to text; there are no love messages coming through. I feel so empty. There’s a song on the new record, ‘Zombie Girl,’ and the refrain is ‘Emptiness / Tell me about your nature.’ That’s a real question. I want to understand — what is this feeling of emptiness? Is that me? Am I just hollow and empty? Or is emptiness actually something beautiful?”
Watch Lenker’s “Zombie Girl” video above.
Songs and Instrumentals are out now via 4AD. Get them here.