Big Thief played The Late Show last night in support of their killer new double album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. Although a lot of pandemic restrictions are lifting across the country, this was a remote performance, which may be one of those vestiges of the COVID era that ends up sticking. It would have been cool to see them on stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater, bringing their unique musical alchemy to life in front of a studio audience, like when they turned “Not” into a towering inferno on the same show back in 2019. But any chance to witness that special Big Thief connection is welcome.

On last night’s Colbert, from a living room somewhere, the band performed DNWMIBIY track “Simulation Swarm.” The song is built around a propulsive downstream groove and a lot of spindly, delicate guitar action that eventually blooms into a pleasingly unorthodox chord riff; on record, it just sweeps you away. This performance was not nearly as compelling at first. Adrianne Lenker’s vocal seemed tentative, and the audio mix was less than vivid. Yet as the song wore on, you could feel Big Thief clicking into sync, tapping into the magic. By the last minute, they seemed like a collective organism again.

Watch the performance below.