Voordat het tweede album van Big Red Machine, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?, op 27 augustus uit komt, deelt het steeds veranderende project van Aaron Dessner met Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, vandaag de 5e en laatste voorproef, Mimi (Feat. Isley). Naast deze single is er nog het nieuws van een Big Red Machine live performance bij The Late Show met Stephen Colbert, op 10 augustus zullen BRM, Robin Pecknold, Anaïs Mitchell, The Westerlies, Scott Devendorf van The National, drummer JT Bates en toetsenist Nick Lloyd van Fleet Foxes het nummer ‘Phoenix’ uitvoeren op de N-Amerikaanse teevee.
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. 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.”