Big Red Machine releases ‘Mimi’ featuring Ilsey

With their eagerly awaited new album ‘How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?’ arriving later this month, Big Red Machine are sharing their newest single ‘Mimi’, featuring Ilsey.

“I named this song Mimi for my youngest daughter…” Aaron Dessner explains. “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.”

“This song is almost a mirror to the process of how we made it,” Ilsey adds. “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.”

Have a listen below.

‘How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?’ Tracklisting:
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)