BY SESHA BELL
Big Red Machine’s second collaboration arrives as part of the dawn of a new era of creative output: one that demands a herculean effort of artists to attempt the near-mythical act of “staying connected” in an almost entirely isolated world. Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon are not the first artists to fight for this rebuilding, nor will they be the last – but it’s safe to say they have done it better than most through How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?.
The album humbly collects and displays writing, production, and vocal features by old friends like Bryan Devendorf of the National, Lisa Hannigan, and This Is The Kit’s Kate Stables, as well as a tasteful list of new collaborators including Tony Award-winning Anaïs Mitchell, Fleet Foxes, and Taylor Swift. To place such an extensive array of styles and ideas into the same room with the intent of creating something cohesive, much less objectively enjoyable, comes with great risk of crashing and burning, but it’s easy to see these artists’ level of comfort and admiration for one another in the nearly seamless flow of the album. Vernon and Dessner have always intended for Big Red Machine to be a space to “hang out and mix it up with your friends,” and that same contented affection shines through How Long… like the last warm light of autumn.
This autumnal sensibility is carried throughout the album in its gentle rise and fall, maintaining consistent tempo markings while allowing percussion and melodic patterns to create variety in pacing from song to song. The underlying emotional themes are also indicative of the calm closure of summer’s end: this record is, after all, an homage to the way we function in tandem with others, in the beginnings and endings of relationships, with respect not only to the quiet excitement of new things, but to the final stages of acceptance at the end of any long road. These themes crop up at various stages of the album’s flow, from “I’ll recall it all forever” in “Latter Days,” or “the way I wake up now is a brand new way/ It ain’t the way it was before” in “Birch,” to the repeated “You watched my back when we were young/ You stick around when we’re old,” of “Brycie,” illustrating the continued sentiment of time as a natural agent of change: always moving, whether you’re ready to move with it or not.
I’ll be honest – not everyone might have the emotional patience or energy to sit and listen through the whole record in one go; the album is on the slower side in terms of pacing, and even the strongest of efforts can’t fully mask the mid-album lag that is so often present in our standard contemporary “sad folk rock” repertoire. In How Long… this lag begins around the track-nine mark, with “Easy to Sabotage.” The track, which features Naeem Juwan as co-writer, is nearly six minutes of what can only be described as a producer’s flex, but in the larger context of the album, it becomes less of a refreshing instrumental interlude and more of a signal to take a small listening break – maybe sip some water, take a short walk, and let your mind move past the cocoon of just-shy-of-chaotic sound. It joins the ranks of “8:22am” and “June’s a River” as songs that are still meaningful, enjoyable, and contain some of the most dynamic guest features, but – beautiful tracks as they are – can fall unfortunately on listening ears that would do well with a breath of fresh air.
If, like me, you might only have the time or space for a few tunes, allow me to offer my selected cuts, which, if I’m right, will encourage you to give the whole record a listen at your convenience. For the perfect emotional setup of acknowledging the wheels of time, begin with “Phoenix,” an ode to inexplicable strength in the face of unstoppable perpetual motion. It’s lighthearted enough to keep you on your feet, with a just-catchy-enough call and response between Robin Pecknold, Justin Vernon, and Anaïs Mitchell that will leave you humming the lyrics like a mantra of gratitude. From there, move to “Renegade,” the album’s lead single with Taylor Swift at the very front of the sound, her signature story-based writing style illustrating the eternally complex act of simultaneous care and violence that is borne from loving someone with flaws, someone who may never be healthy for you in spite of it all. Swift’s writing is, as always, impeccably formed, and provides a refreshing change of pace while still meshing perfectly within the more conceptual stylings of Dessner, Vernon, and the album’s other writers. Your third and final stop within this tasting flight is the album’s penultimate track, “Brycie,” which, coming as no surprise, could be considered Aaron Dessner’s mini masterwork within the record’s larger context. “Brycie” is a letter of love to Aaron’s twin brother and lifelong collaborator Bryce, and in its tenderhearted admiration lies one of the deepest forms of love, and the final settling of leaves before winter.
How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? is, at the end of the day, more than worthy of your listening consideration, and has arrived to us just in time to usher in the changing season. It’s the perfect companion album to a long day’s drive through turning leaves and wooded hills, or to sipping September’s first hot coffee on one of the last pleasant cafe-patio afternoons of the year. Introspective, considerate, and gentle, How Long… pays its respects to all the facets of loving another person, and does so masterfully, with no malice, simply instilling an understanding that this, too, shall pass.
How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?
Big Red Machine
83
the all knower 
I’m intrigued by the last statement, since by saying “pays respect to all the facets of loving another person..simply instilling an understanding that this, too, shall pass.” Is the author implying that the album wants to convey that the act of loving is a temporary, in-passing feeling that changes with the movement of wheels of time?
This is a great question! I believe the answer lies not in the concept of love being a temporary experience, but more so in the fickle nature of love. Love is patient and kind and all of those good things, but it can also be strange and entirely unhelpful at times. Sometimes, our experiences in loving other people culminate in untimely endings, and while that’s always a sad thing, I believe it deserves respect as a part of the experience of loving someone. It’s definitely not a mandatory part of the experience! However, it is one that occurs often. Love is a constant, but the way it touches us and guides our interactions is always in flux. I hope this answered your question!
Wonderful review
This review is so amazing. Like its writer and website’s creator. Fucking awesome.