#Big Red Machine, Fleet Foxes, and Anaïs Mitchell Share New Song “Phoenix”: Listen

Big Red Machine, the duo of Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon, have shared another new song from their forthcoming album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? “Phoenix” is a collaboration with Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell. Give it a listen below.

“It was a high, high honor to work on this song, and beyond that it was a really interesting creative challenge,” Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold said in a statement. “Justin’s vocals and the beautiful chorus were already in place before I got my hands on it, so I felt my job melodically and lyrically was to set his entrance up in the best possible way. I felt like a pilgrim putting questions to an elusive sage, not needing clear answers, but happy for the chance to ask.”

Aaron Dessner added:

“Phoenix” was one of the last songs we wrote for this record. I was thinking about the Band and the Grateful Dead… maybe imagining this Big Red Machine album was some version of the Last Waltz. Justin first heard it while driving and immediately the chorus melody came into his head. I shared the sketch with Robin Pecknold, who I’ve been a fan of forever and who I’d been dreaming would join us on this record. Robin wrote the verses and pre-chorus as a kind of dialogue with Justin, recalling a conversation they once had backstage in Phoenix. Later, Anaïs wrote words to the chorus and the Westerlies added their magic to the instrumental. JT Bates rumbles around in rare form on the drums on this song. I think it’s what I always imagined Big Red Machine would sound like.

Big Red Machine previously shared one of Taylor Swift’s two features on the album, “Renegade.” Anaïs Mitchell also previously appeared on the single “Latter Days,” and the band subsequently shared “The Ghost of Cincinnati.”

Big Red Machine’s self-titled debut album came out in 2018. Fleet Foxes released their new album Shore last year.

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