Bon Iver’s Comeback Album is a Beautiful Masterclass in Emotion and Experimentation
What better way to start an album than with the track “…”, a strident beep that instantly gets your attention and dives you into the album’s sensorial moment.
I had really enjoyed the first drop of Disc 1 back in October, and was happy to listen to it again, but Disc 2 seriously topped all of my expectations, from Justin Vernon’s astonishingly clear voice that makes you feel all kinds of emotion, to the diversity of the production. If you would ask me how I feel about this album, I would say it’s amazing, but if you’d ask me on a deeper level, I’d say that there is nothing to throw away from this instant masterpiece, and I hope everyone will love it as much as I do already.
As a Bon Iver enthusiast, through his collabs on a daily basis (Exile – Taylor Swift, Evermore – Taylor Swift, I think about it all the time – Charli xcx) but a deep appreciator of For Emma, Forever Ago, I am confident to say that this is his best project to date. I’m glad that we waited for it this long.
This album is nothing but the culmination of artistry. You can feel experimentation everywhere. The influences are building each track piece by piece, mixing soul, jazz, electro, pop, folk, indie-rock, gospel with a lot of harmonies and a cappella, R&B inspirations—all to produce music (to quote the great Harry Styles) that feels like music.
You can hear some Coldplay, some Dick Annegarn, some Frank Ocean, some The Lumineers, some Sufjan Stevens, some Ben Harper, and I could go on.
They combine perfectly synthetic sonorities with authentic lead instruments—peak Bon Iver music building. Being credited first on every song, you can hear this project’s cohesiveness. With no less than 20 writers (Andrew Fitzpatrick, Asher Weisberg, BJ Burton, Christopher Messina, Danielle Haim, Dijon, Eli Teplin, Ilsey, Jacob Collier, Jenn Wasner, Jim-E Stack, Justin Vernon, Kacy Hill, Matthew McCaughan, Michael Gordon, Michael Lewis, Samuel Tsang, Sean Carey, Tobias Jesso Jr.) credited, this project is the result of a creative lyrical effusion that brings it to another level.
In terms of production, the project’s melodic aesthetic is credited to the majestic Justin Vernon, accompanied by Jim-E Stack, and I wanna give a huge round of applause to this duo for the insane production level that this album delivered.
Deep diving into the lyricism, you can state that this is a particularly intimate album, with a lot of introspective and self-reflecting topics covered. In an always pictorial way, the band walks you through what life feels like when things change, time passes, and you’re left with nothing but yourself, memories and what you do to deal with it.
With a soothing voice, Justin Vernon sings to you about how it is to feel stuck, about time passing and how you can do nothing about it, so you just have to keep on running after life, but at the same time about enjoying the road, and trying to go as slow as possible.
From Disc 1, Justin Vernon’s almost a cappella performance on AWRDS SEASON is soul-healing – almost like a prayer. And it brings you slowly but surely to Disc 2 with the ascending Short Story that brings you even deeper into the album’s intensity. A fragile yet utterly mesmerising sound that keeps you firmly held in a lurch.
But as soon as I heard If only I could wait (ft. Danielle HAIM), I knew it would become my instant favourite. Goosebumps, tears, truly a transcendental piece. Haim’s deep, sultry voice brings the track to another dimension, and I consider their harmonies to be out of this world. A majestic production, both light with a lot of strings and complex with a skillful use of percussions, bass and wholesome sounds.
Au Revoir is probably the most outstanding outro I’ve heard in a while, almost sounding like an exit hatch to reminisce on the experience you’ve just been through – a subtle way to bring you back to reality.
I really have nothing bad to say about this project, apart that it could’ve been twice as long and I still would’ve devoured it.
What is good, though, with a shorter project (42 minutes for nine tracks) is that you can easily listen to it fully, which I think is the best way to consume this album. What makes it so pleasing to listen to is the smoothness of its transitions – everything is thought through. Overall, this is an insanely good album. If I have one thing to do, it’s to urge you to go and listen to it. If you like soft-alternative-indie music with solid lyricism and some electro touches, you will be served the best that there is.
