Photo // Pitchfork
By: Jordan Sarver-Bontrager
Media Writer
Fall is here, and with it comes a new Bon Iver project. Bon Iver is a Wisconsin-based folk band fronted by Justin Vernon. Their first release in 2008 was an album called “For Emma, Forever Ago”, which was done entirely by Vernon and may be my favorite album of all time.
Vernon recorded “For Emma, Forever Ago” in a Wisconsin cabin across three months in isolation after a series of traumatic events happened in his life. The album is best saved for a cozy autumn evening or a blizzard on a dark winter night. The highlight of that album is its closer, “Re: Stacks” a beautiful song I would consider to be my favorite of all time.
Bon Iver would go on to release three more albums. Their followup to “For Emma” was “Bon Iver”, with a more refined, less lofi sound to the album. Then there was “22, A Million” which embraced a more electronic and experimental sound. Finally we have “i,i” which felt like a combination of the sounds heard on the previous three albums.
It’s been five years since a full album release from Bon Iver, the closest we got is Justin Vernon releasing an album he recorded back in 2006 called “Hazeltons”, a record with a more archaic sound than “For Emma” and it has the heartbreaking track “Song for a Lover – of Long Ago”.
On Sept. 20, Bon Iver released “SPEYSIDE,” a new single that is from their upcoming “SABLE” EP. I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed that this was only going to be an EP and not a full-length album, but any release from Bon Iver is welcome.
I talked about “For Emma” earlier because “SPEYSIDE” is very reminiscent of that sound, but with some refined production like on “Bon Iver.” The feeling of “For Emma” is there with a feeling of loneliness and regret on this track, almost as if Vernon is reflecting on his past with lines like “Nothing’s ever happened like how I thought it would.”
It seems as though Vernon is back in that place he was when he was recording “For Emma”. The production on this track is stellar; Vernon’s vocals have his signature layering, and the vocal tracks mix nicely together. The acoustic guitars sound like they are plugged in, as you don’t hear any imperfections in their sound. On “For Emma”, by contrast, the guitars were rickety and the microphone was right on or inside the soundhole of the guitar.
The strings on this track give it a very folky feel, and they provide a nice countermelody that leads perfectly into the chorus where Vernon isn’t singing any words, just exploring his falsetto.
“SPEYSIDE” is a return to form for Bon Iver. It really reminds me of the feel and tone of “For Emma, Forever Ago” . I am really looking forward to “SABLE,” which comes out on Oct. 18.