A collaborative art-pop project featuring Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Aaron Dessner (the National), the idea for Big Red Machine -- named after the dominating baseball teams of the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s -- was born in 2008 when Dessner sent Vernon an instrumental track of the same name for a charity compilation. They began operating under the moniker a decade later, pairing Vernon's soaring vocals and impressionistic lyrics with Dessner's patchwork loops and melodies. Songs began trickling out online in early 2018, culminating in the release of the project's eponymous full-length debut later that August via Vernon and Aaron and Bryce Dessner's PEOPLE digital community, an art collective and streaming platform.