Aaron Dessner, Justin Vernon’s Big Red Machine Previews New Album With ‘Latter Days’
Big Red Machine — the collaborative project of the National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon — have released a new song, “Latter Days,” from their upcoming album, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?, out August 27th via Jagjaguwar/37d03d.
“Latter Days” is a plaintive piano ballad filled with atmospheric and textural touches, with lead vocals provided by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. On the chorus, Mitchell’s voice melds with Vernon’s falsetto as they sing together, “I recall it all forever/How it found us where we lay/With our arms around each other/In the latter days.”
How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? marks Big Red Machine’s second album and follows their 2018 self-titled debut. Dessner produced the album at his Long Pond studio in upstate New York, and it features an array of guest vocalists including Dessner’s recent collaborator Taylor Swift, who sings on two tracks, “Birch” and “Renegade” (per a release, the latter was recorded in Los Angeles the same week Folklore won Album of the Year at the Grammys).
Other contributors to How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? include Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Ilsey, Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, Naeem, My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Nova, La Force, Ben Howard, and This Is the Kit.
“This is all music I initially generated and feel emotionally connected to, but it has been very interesting to hear how different people relate to it and how different voices collide with it,” Dessner said of the album in a statement. “That’s what makes it special. With everyone that’s on this record, there’s an openness, a creative generosity, and an emotional quality that connects it all together.”
How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? Tracklist
1. “Latter Days” (feat. Anaïs Mitchell)
2. “Reese”
3. “Phoenix” (feat. Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell)
4. “Birch” (feat. Taylor Swift)
5. “Renegade” (feat. Taylor Swift)
6. “The Ghost of Cincinnati”
7. “Hoping Then”
8. “Mimi” (feat. Ilsey)
9. “Easy to Sabotage” (feat. Naeem)
10. “Hutch” (feat. Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, and Shara Nova [My Brightest Diamond])
11. “8:22am” (feat. La Force)
12. “Magnolia”
13. “June’s a River” (feat. Ben Howard and This Is The Kit)
14. “Brycie”
15. “New Auburn” (feat. Anaïs Mitchell)
