When
Fenne Lily wrote the songs for her sophomore album, 2020's
Breach, during a self-imposed period of isolation, she couldn't have known that the COVID-19 pandemic was soon going to force that hand. Following a stretch of being unable to write, the follow-up,
Big Picture, was eventually penned haltingly over the course of two pandemic years, a time span that coincided with an ill-fated relationship ultimately tracked in real time through her songs. There's a similarly delicate, melancholy sigh to
Big Picture as to its predecessor, despite a new production team (
Brad Cook and
Lily herself) and its in-the-moment inspirations. She sets the stage with "Map of Japan," whose sultry, midtempo twang, active bass, spare drums, vibraphone-style Mellotron, and breathy vocals could pass muster as a tribute to
Mazzy Star. That band is a fitting reference point for the hazy, ruminative zone of
Big Picture, which was mixed by
Jay Som's
Melina Duterte and has occasional gritty electric guitar interjections, including on this song. The album goes on to offer a range of dreaminess, arguably reaching its lushest and loudest point on the jammy outro to "Superglued," its liveliest on the appreciative, post-breakup "Lights Light Up" (though there is a case to be made for the jaunty but fatalistic "Pick"), and its sparsest on the brittle, comfort-seeking "Henry," which still features a full band. The musical contrasts aren't far-ranging, however, and similarly, even the most optimistic lyrics seem to be biding time ("I guess we don't really know what we're looking for/'Til we have everything and still want more").
Big Picture ends at what seems like the middle of the story, on a train home to her partner ("I made no promises that I would stay, but I'll try") on the atmospheric "Half Finished," whose quiet shimmer, echoing multi-tracked vocals, and not-so-quiet woolly effects are ultimately suffocating. ~ Marcy Donelson
