After their collaborative efforts resulted in one of the best albums of the pandemic era (and a followup companion record), numerous accolades and multiple Grammys, The National's Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon have linked up with Taylor Swift again.
This time, it's for Dessner and Vernon's duo Big Red Machine, as they plan to release a new album together. First, they've shared "Renegade," which features vocals from Swift, and it recorded the same week Swift won Album of the Year at this year's Grammy Awards for folklore, on which the trio all collaborated.
"Renegade" is the first of two songs featuring Swift which will appear on Big Red Machine's How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?, which is out Aug. 27 via Jagjaguwar/37d03d.
From Dessner: “While we were making folklore and evermore last year, Taylor and I sometimes talked about experimenting and writing songs together some day for Big Red Machine. Making music with your friends just to make it—that's how Big Red Machine started and has grown—and that's how 'Renegade' came about too. This song was something we wrote after we finished evermore and it dawned on us that this was a BRM song."
He continues: "Taylor's words hit me so hard when I heard her first voice memo and still do, every time. Justin lifted the song further into the heavens, and my brother [Bryce Dessner]'s strings and drummer Jason Treuting add so much. The feeling and sound of this song feel very much at the heart of How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? I'm so grateful to Taylor for continuing to share her incredible talent with me and that we are still finding excuses to make music together.”
In addition to Swift, the new album features the likes of Fleet Foxes, Sharon Van Etten, Ben Howard and more.
Hear the new song below.