Big Thief Debut New Triple Album 'Horsepower' in Nashville

Big Thief debuted their upcoming triple album, Horsepower, during a performance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Sunday. The band played the 29-song project in its entirety for an audience of 2,400 fans. Frontwoman Adrianne Lenker introduced the set by telling the crowd, “If you had some hopes of hearing some of the songs you might know—those can be discarded.”

The performance featured a lineup of special guests, including Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, and Iris DeMent. The band members took seats around a large wooden table onstage and were accompanied by the musicians who contributed to the recording: Russ Pahl and Greg Leisz on pedal steel and guitar, alongside fiddlers Hannah Read, Richard Bowden, and Zosha Warpeha.

According to NME, the evening was a "unique night of music." To maintain the surprise of the unreleased material, photo and video recordings were strictly prohibited throughout the show.

Horsepower was recorded in Nashville in May. While the band performed every track from the new project, they did not play them in the album's original sequence. Several songs from the triple LP have appeared in previous sets; "Carry" and "Space and Time" were first debuted in May during a session for Belgium’s Radio 1. Other tracks included in the 29-song setlist were "Sadness as a Gift," "Beautiful Powerful," and "Born For Loving You."

The debut of Horsepower follows the 2025 release of Double Infinity, which was Big Thief's first album as a trio. As noted by Pitchfork, the band has not yet announced official release details or a specific date for the new triple LP.

Big Thief is scheduled to begin a new leg of their North American tour next month. This run of dates will conclude with a final performance at Red Rocks in Denver on October 6. This tour follows other major 2026 announcements, such as Oso Oso's North American tour.