“Shining a light on childhood.”
Aaron Dessner speaks to Stevie Chick.
You’re a habitual collaborator…
“I’m just wired that way. I’ve always played music with my twin brother Bryce, since we were little kids in the basement. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve only grown as an artist through collaborating. Every time you work with someone new, you put yourself in a position of vulnerability. But it’s an incredibly important part of being an artist, taking that risk and jumping off that cliff. You just need courage to stick your neck out.”
What makes your partnership with Justin Vernon work?
“He’s an incredibly talented musician. But, most importantly, he gives me so much encouragement to keep exploring. And Big Red Machine is as much an excuse to hang out and mix it up with your friends as it is an actual band. We like to think of it almost like a laboratory that we invite friends into. We made the first record almost by accident, but this one was more intentional and more ambitious. We wanted this community of voices to sing these songs, which are like chapters of the same book, featuring different characters.”
You sing for the first time on this album – what took you so long?
“I love what strong, charismatic singers like [The National bandmate] Matt Berninger, or Justin, or Taylor [Swift] bring to my songs. But when I shared Brycie with Justin and Taylor, they were really moved by my voice, and Justin started pushing me to sing more. And when I played Ghosts Of Cincinnati to Taylor, she helped me finish it; she had this melody for me to sing. I don’t imagine I’m going to become some great singer. But it is nice to stop hiding out in the shadows.”
What’s the story behind Brycie?
“When I was a teenager, I struggled with severe depression. And Bryce really was there for me. It was shocking to him to see me decline. He held me up, he did my homework, and he was very caring. So the song is really a love letter to my brother, thanking him for always being there, and hoping we get to grow old together. That’s where the album title comes from, really, a line from the opening song, Latter Days, which Anaïs Mitchell wrote after hearing Brycie. And the album sleeve is Bryce and me and our sister with our greatgrandmother Stella, who was 100 years old when that picture was taken in 1979. Families don’t always stay together, and we have had family trauma, we’ve lost people along the way. The core idea of the record is shining a light on childhood, looking back to before you made mistakes or overextended yourself, and trying to find a remedy. It’s something that I recognise in my relatives, in my parents, and in myself.”