Big Red Machine - Big Red Machine
Aug 31, 2018
89
There is something about an urban setting that makes large bodies of water more majestic, especially at night. A month ago, I watched The National perform on the banks of the Detroit river. It was sublime. Somehow, inexplicably, the water made the experience more soothing.

There's a line towards the end of Air Stryp that goes "in the light of the moon/in an old canoe/whats a girl to do/in a world like you?" As the rest of the album breezed by, I could not shake that imagery from my head. Big Red Machine sounds like a midnight canoe ride through a city.

The chemistry between Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon is remarkable. Dessner's sweeping, aggressive arrangements allow Vernon's vocals to soar in ways that we've never heard. At one point he's "uh"-ing as if he is mid-freestyle. At other times, he is straight up howling. He never, however, loses the signature warmth from his voice.

Though the album sounds like the perfect fusion of The National's and Bon Iver's latest albums, it it essential that the listener put aside any pre-conceived notions about what the album is "supposed" to sound like. Instead, close your eyes and let the songs reveal themselves to you bit by bit. Somehow, as the album comes to a close, the lights of the city are behind you without you realizing it. Only the moon illuminates the water in before you.

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