Big Red Machine released “Mimi” (feat. Ilsey) off their newest album, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?” due out August 27 on Jagjaguwar / 37d03d. Co-written by Dessner, Justin Vernon and singer/songwriter Ilsey, “Mimi” follows “Phoenix” (feat. Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell), “Latter Days (feat. Anaïs Mitchell)”, “The Ghost of Cincinnati”, and “Renegade Feat. Taylor Swift” which currently sits at #15 and climbing on the US mediabase Hot AC chart.
(Song Credits HERE)
Aaron Dessner: “I named this song Mimi for my youngest daughter…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.”
Ilsey: “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.” Isley said, “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.”
Additionally, Big Red Machine will be joined by Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Anaïs Mitchell, The Westerlies, Scott Devendorf of The National, drummer JT Bates & keyboardist Nick Lloyd to perform “Phoenix” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on August 10th.
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