Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of The National have gotten the band back together to create the theme song for a new podcast about soccer.
After an eight-year hiatus, the duo’s super-side project Big Red Machine is back with new music for American Fiasco, a podcast created by WNYC Studios and hosted by Roger Bennett. The podcast recounts the 1998 U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team’s anti-climatic international experience and how “not to win a World Cup.”
Big Red Machine’s introduction track is short, only about 25 seconds long, but dreamy-sounding, with lots of bended notes and the repetition of a “We are” affirmation. In the case of the 1998 U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team, “we are not very good at soccer.”
Vernon’s latest release as Bon Iver was in 2016 with 22, A Million. Dessner released Sleep Well Beast with The National last year.
Listen to the first episode of American Fiasco here. You can hear Big Red Machine’s trippy theme music at 2:45. You can also catch Bon Iver and The National performances from the Paste archives below.