Sounds on Big Red Machine reflect its collective nature
Big Red Machine is a long-in-themaking project led by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The National’s Aaron Dessner. Its roots go back to an eponymous song the pair created for “Dark Is the Night,” a momentous 2009 compilation benefiting the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Besides the usual physical formats, the album is being released on PEOPLE, a new digital platform co-founded by the two musicians and others and which was part of the record’s creative process, with contributions from a varied roster including Lisa Hannigan, The Staves, Brad Cook, JT Bates and several of Dessner’s bandmates.
It’s difficult, therefore, to consider the music separately from its source and the predominant sounds on “Big Red Machine” reflect its collective nature. Some of the tunes have over a dozen musicians and there are layers of vocals and electronic and acoustic sounds throughout. Sometimes they enhance the listening pleasure (“Lyla,” “Gratitude” and “Hymnostic”) while sometimes they’re more of a distraction (“Air Stryp,” “Melt”).
Since he’s the lead singer and lyricist, Vernon’s presence is the most immediate. Some of the album’s best moments, however, including the meditative “Forest Green” and the comparatively conventional “I Won’t Run From It,” clearly have Dessner’s soundprints all over them.
The 10 songs on “Big Red Machine” are loaded with experimentation, some of it exquisite, some excessive. As the first tangible result of the project, it’s an auspicious start.