Music Reviews
Bon Iver

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

Jagjaguwar

For his follow-up to For Emma, Forever Ago, Justin Vernon collects a long list of talent to emerge with a seamless masterpiece. Lush, powerful, layered… this music is held together with a subtly toned undercurrent and distinctive, perfectly harmonious vocals.

Bon Iver is a haunting lament at the tail end of love – on “Holecene” this is perhaps especially obvious (“…at once I knew it was not magnificent… and I could see for miles”), though songs’ meanings are buried a bit in the poetry. “Michicant” seems nostalgic – I picture a gangly mass of boys, all knees and elbows and Adam’s apples, and a little bit of peeping – and I’m sure it is, for something.

Bon Iver is a gorgeous poem to take you fathoms deep into a sad, sad, beautiful, musical world. It’s what you expect; it’s what you stream into all the rooms of the house at full volume for a delicious night alone with a bottle of wine. I don’t portend to know its meaning, but it is lovely.

Bon Iver: http://boniver.org


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