Bristol-born musician Fenne Lily’s third album “Big Picture” is one of the best forthcoming singer/songwriter projects on the docket in 2023. A follow-up to 2020’s “Breach”, “Big Picture” is beautiful and tender, brimming with sharp lyricism and storytelling. The album was mixed by Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and some of the songs were done with contributions from Christian Lee Huston and Katy Kirby.
Headlined by the mystical lead single “Lights Light Up,” Lily, again, is showcasing why she is one of the brightest songwriters we’ve got right now. “Lights Light Up” features a hypnotizing, supple guitar part paired with a well-paced snare drum. “We held each other while everything burned up ’round us / And inside of me, too / That’s called love,” Lily sings on the track.
While the album was written alone in Fenne’s Bristol flat – a fact intentionally reflected in its compact sonic quality – “Big Picture” was transformed from a solitary venture into a unifying collaboration during the recording process when she was joined by her touring band, Melina Dutere of Jay Som (mixing), Christian Lee Hutson (guitar and co production), and Katy Kirby (vocals).
Notably, these 10 songs are Fenne’s first and only to have been written over the course of a relationship; 2018’s “On Hold” and 2020’s “Breach” both confront the pain of retrospection, saying goodbye to a love that’s gone. “Big Picture” does the exact opposite — rooted firmly in the present, it traces the narrative of two people trying their hardest not to implode, together.
A gorgeous and gripping portrait of Fenne’s last two years, “Big Picture” was pieced together in an effort to self-soothe. Tracked live in co-producer Brad Cook’s North Carolina studio, the album delineates the phases of love and becomes a map of comfort vs claustrophobia.
“Big Picture” is a detour from Lily’s tales of retrospect on her previous album, as she fills the track list with vivid imagery of the present, sketching out a novela-in-song about two people doing whatever they can to keep their heads above water. “Writing this album was my attempt at bringing some kind of order to the disaster that was 2020,” Lily said of the album in a statement. “By documenting the most vulnerable parts of that time, I felt like I reclaimed some kind of autonomy.” “Big Picture” is a confident catalogue of love amid a mirage of unanswerable questions and doubts.
Fenne Lily from the upcoming album ‘Big Picture’, out April 14th on Dead Oceans.
The Fat Angel Sings 