Big Red Machine has released “Phoenix (feat. Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell)”, the fourth track off their newest album, ‘How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?’ due out August 27 on Jagjaguwar / 37d03d. The beautiful, collaborative track is available for streaming here: bigredmachine.jagjag.co/phoenix
“This is all music I generated, but it is interesting to hear how different people relate to it, or how different voices collide with it,” Dessner says. “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.”
“It was a high, high honor to work on this song, and beyond that it was a really interesting creative challenge,” commented Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold. “Justin’s vocals and beautiful chorus were already in place before I got my hands on it, so I felt my job melodically and lyrically was to set his entrance up in the best possible way. I felt like a pilgrim putting questions to an elusive sage, not needing clear answers, but happy for the chance to ask.”
Keeping with the collaborative energy behind Big Red Machine, “Phoenix” was co-written by Aaron Dessner, Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold, Justin Vernon and Anaïs Mitchell, with co-production credit for both Pecknold and Dessner. “Phoenix” marks the first collaboration between Pecknold and Big Red Machine. The track follows “Latter Days (feat. Anaïs Mitchell)”, “The Ghost of Cincinnati”, and “Renegade Feat. Taylor Swift”, all of which have gotten massive support in Southeast Asia – “Renegade” has been added to rotation on 19 radio stations in the region including top stations HITZ FM (Malaysia), 98.7FM (Singapore) and Prambors (Indonesia).
The generous spirit and desire to push music forward has never been more deeply felt than on Big Red Machine’s ‘How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?’, the second album from Aaron Dessner’s ever-morphing project with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.
Collaborators and friends show up across the album, continuing the reciprocal exchange of ideas that has come to define their creative community. Songs feature guest vocals and writing contributions from artist friends including Ben Howard and This Is The Kit (“June’s a River”), Naeem (“Easy to Sabotage”), Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Nova (“Hutch”) and Taylor Swift (“Birch” and “Renegade”).
“That’s what makes it special,” Dessner says. “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)
