Big Red Machine have shared a new track from their forthcoming album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? The duo’s latest is called ‘Mimi’ and it features Ilsey Juber, a singer-songwriter known professionally as Ilsey who has co-written songs for Panic! at the Disco, Major Lazer, Beyoncé, and more. The track also includes Aaron’s brother Bryce Dessner on guitar, Big Thief’s James Krivchenia on drums, Thomas “Doveman” Bartlett on piano and synth, and Beirut’s Ben Lanz on modular synth. Listen to it below.
“I named this song Mimi for my youngest daughter,” Aaron Dessner said in a statement. “I was thinking about how grateful I am for my children and how they light up even the darkest days. Justin, Ilsey and I wrote words and melodies to this in isolation and we decided to interweave them, like characters in a book, full of longing and gratitude. Later James Krivchenia came to visit and brought the song further to life with his drums. Musically I feel like maybe we were seeking the open air and road of a Tom Petty song, just accidentally in an odd meter. So grateful to Ilsey for joining this collaboration – it felt so natural and joyful.”
Isley added: “This song is almost a mirror to the process of how we made it. Aaron, Justin and I wrote and recorded all of the parts separately. The lyrics of the chorus reflect a longing for closeness and connection, but that longing is made to feel safe and less pained next to Justin and Aaron’s lyrics which have this strong theme of gratitude. All of this to say, what could have been a lonely chorus was made hopeful, and what could have been a lonely process was made joyful in getting to work with these two wonderful people.”
How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? is set for release on August 27. It includes the previously released songs ‘Phoenix’ (featuring Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold and Anaïs Mitchell), ‘Renegade’ with (with Taylor Swift), ‘Latter Days’ (featuring Anaïs Mitchell), and ‘The Ghost of Cincinnati’.