GutterPutter

Bon Iver & The National. Most casual fans of the US underground scene know the two bands as being the stalwart favourites of the late 2000s with the drip of literary melancholia that pervades their works. Justin Vernon’s project marks a big breakthrough to indie folk in For Emma, Forever Ago with the subtle string arrangements, poppy song structure & echoing vocals from the production. Meanwhile, The National has been around since the very start of the Post-Punk Revival in 2001, but the two-hit knockout in Alligator & Boxer in 2005 & 2007 respectively puts the band into being one of the faces of American indie rock. Praised for its well-gelled production, ponderous themes of ageing & love & some distinctive songwriting, the older band is as cohesive as they come with the Dessner twins in Aaron & Bryce being responsible for arranging the instrumental while singer Matt Berninger writes the lyrics. In the last few years, the two bands, while having not reached the point of collaborating with one another at a frequent rate, have dove into more creative boundaries. Bon Iver starts to make more use of electronic elements to add to the textures of the folk songs starting with 2014’s 22, A Million while The National spread its wings out to include a bit of electronic production & even some female vocals as shown in 2019’s I Am Easy to Find.

With the incredible production being highlighted as a strong point between the two bands, it seems like a dream for either one of the members to collaborate & that’s what happened with Aaron & Justin. With the founding of the Big Red Machine in 2018 with the self-titled debut, it’s now a matter of time if the super-duo can find a spot that enables them to both prove themselves to be a worthwhile act rather than just serve as a show-boat. It’s from How Long Do You Think… that infers, rather unfortunately, that the duo’s collaboration fails to carve out an identity on their own nor can they provide anything of interest. Whatever chance at providing some ear-grabbing concoction they try to show, it falls flat most of the time & even at its best, it can feel jarring in how it fits in in comparison to the rest of the textures. ‘Easy to Sabotage’ has an awkward showing of autotune from Vernon as he attempts to provide what appears to be an assertion of independence from a failed relation alongside an unremarkable cameo feature from Naeem Juwan in the chorus. The drum beat in ‘8:22am’ is admittedly catchy & provides a nice backbone for the rhythm, yet the singing from Ariel Engle/La Force comes off as being too overproduced & when layered with Vernon’s singing, can be too grating to the ears.

Driven primarily through chamber pop & folktronic instrumentation, the second album is largely made of aspects that makes the two members’ main group interesting, yet the overall execution leaves a lot to desire. Tracks like ‘Latter Days’, ‘Birch’ & ‘Hutch’ leans into Dessner’s primary front for example, but the features fail to do justice without the baritone resignation of Matt Berninger, let alone deviate from the relation in the first place. The lyrics in addition didn’t provide a perspective of utmost intrigue wherever it be the COVID-related laments in the first track or the bovine impression in ‘The Ghost of Cincinnati’. The folktronica that Bon Iver tries their damndest to take into prominence comes off as being a bit of a gimmick as noted in ‘Hoping Then’ or ‘Magnolia’ as the beats leave not much impact to the feeling that I have around the entire track or two. Meanwhile, ‘June’s a River’ . It feels that for all the potential there could be had, there isn’t a whole lot of wonder that can be made from the album despite the talent of its two framers which feels symptomatic of most all-star fraternizations.

It’s not to take away from the benefits of the work. I’ll keep it as brief as it can be, but there is little denying that the two’s skillsets are apparent in this record. The instrumentation, especially on the keyboard’s side, are sparsely played in terms with technicality, but the delicacy is what makes it memorable & thoughtful in its accessibility. A handful of tracks like ‘Reese’ sees the band make good use of their past experimentations to form a coherent, artsy pop that’s around abandoning the grievances of your past for the better. ‘Phoenix’ sees a feature from beloved indie folk band Fleet Foxes whose harmonies & ambitious use of baroque folk helps to enrich the quality of the song. ‘Mimi’ has a nice melody in its layering between Ilsey & Dessner’s singing during the chorus which creates a quiet lullaby effect. ‘Renegate’ has a feature from Taylor Swift who is all but too prepared for the electro folk-pop genre since folklore as she reminisces about a strong relationship during a mental health drought. Last of all, ‘Brycie’ provides a wholesome ode to Aaron’s twin brother in Bryce (thus the title) as the folktronica works its way into the composition. This leads to a heartwarming tale around the twins’ bond that will entertain both fans of Taylor Swift as well as The National’s own.

The talent is there the whole time, but the disappointing showing that pervades throughout the record makes one wonder what makes How Long Do You Think… a mixed flop. Whatever the case may be, either the chemistry is working out in some tracks or, most likely in my opinion, the individual member’s own take of each other’s genre helps the highlights shine more than others. We all know the context around how capable Aaron Dessner & Justin Vernon are in making their own music, but their recent ventures into pop territory prove to be a clash over their established choice of genre. Regardless of how well the two got along in real life, the sophomore record neither shines bright enough for the supergroup to be taken seriously on its own merit nor does their focus generate a lot of prospect in the first place.