Big Red Machine’s most ambitious project yet

The passage of time is an uncertain yet inevitable struggle that Big Red Machine grapples with both musically and lyrically on their latest album, How Long Do Think It’s Gonna Last?. This release by the supergroup, composed of The National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, features an all-star cast including Taylor Swift and Fleet Foxes’s Robin Pecknold. Despite the meandering sonic homogeny throughout its hour-plus runtime, Dessner and Vernon tackle universally topical themes and create evocative atmospheres with ease. 

The album opens with “Latter Days,” a stripped-back ballad featuring vocals by Anaïs Mitchell. The lonesome whistle and dusty drums, combined with a strong narrative throughout, evoke the sounds of old country and folk music. This sets the stage for the central theme explored throughout the album: time. Tonally, this concept is reflected in a powerful and ever-present rhythm section, creating a forward-moving, churning quality for the entire album. This also reflects the narrative elements present throughout, as this rhythm section provides the heartbeat to the album—pushing time forward constantly and forcefully. 

Most of the tracks on this project focus on either the negative nature of time or the positive. “The Ghost of Cincinnati” follows the life of a man so jaded and burnt out, he feels as if he moves through time as a ghost, with Dessner’s wispy vocal layers adding weight to this haunting tale. Following similar themes, “Hutch” is a raw and tragically beautiful track dedicated to Dessner’s friend and fellow musician Scott Hutchison, who tragically took his own life in 2018.

But the album doesn’t just ruminate on the doom and gloom of time. Directly following “Hutch” is a track featuring La Force titled “8:22am,” which contrasts death with the creation of life. Continuing on this lighter note, Dessner focuses on family in both “Mimi” and “Brycie:” the former dedicated to his young children and the latter focusing on his twin brother. In both tracks, family is a positive presence that aids in the highs and lows of life. On “Renegade,” featuring Taylor Swift, they fight against emotional baggage, optimistically looking toward the future as a chance for growth. Anaïs Mitchell is featured on the final track of the album, “New Auburn,”  in which she weaves a narrative that takes both the good and the bad of time into consideration, finally asking the listener, “who are you to care?” Why question the inevitable?

Unfortunately, the same forces that makeup How Long’s highlights also give way to some of its biggest faults. The album is masterfully produced and aurally consistent, but almost to a fault. Sometimes it feels a bit too self-contained, with too few risks taken throughout. Even the all-star cast of guest vocalists do little to distinguish these tracks throughout the album’s lengthy runtime. Additionally, some of the songs without guest vocalists, such as “Reese” and “Hoping Then,” tend to fall a bit flat. Finally, at times the album feels overindulgent, as songs such as “Easy to Sabotage” and “Magnolia” add little to the album other than additional minutes.

Dessner characterizes Big Red Machine’s collaborative project as something special, with “an openness, a creative generosity, and an emotional quality that connects it all together.” The group does a good job of capturing this feeling on How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?, despite its faults. Time continues to churn onward, and this album is a reflection of both the highs and lows that make living through it worthwhile.