Recorded “in the windows of time snatched between tours in support of For Emma, Forever Ago” Justin Vernon’s long awaited, and three years in the making, eponymous follow up sees a sonic transformation in his work. Rehashing the mood of his debut would have been not only a painful, isolating experience but also pointless for an artist to traverse again – and would have served only to rid the work that won him such critical acclaim less poignancy in light of some reincarnation.
As it happens the Bon Iver band have grown in sound, scope and size, and this time around instead of a solitary recording in a derelict log-cabin in Wisconsin, Vernon settles into a recording studio, formerly an old veterinarian’s clinic which he restructured with his brother back in 2008. Incorporating a compelling mix of acoustics from CJ Camerieri’s horns and Colin Stetson’s saxophones, to Greg Leisz’ pedal steel; which injects an alt-country pace to ‘Towers’, also reintroduced are vocalists Sean Carrey, Mike Noyce and Matt McCaughan, adding their icy falsettos which comprise the elegiac choir of harmonies so central to Bon Iver’s work.
From ‘Perth”s opening with its triumphant marching snare drum, to the calming layering of ‘Holocene’ Bon Iver presents a sound of cinematic scale, diverse instrumentation and atmospherics in many ways more matured than his debut. If For Emma… wished to remain within the fragile shell of heartache, Bon Iver, while not entirely recovered, hopes in a sense to bleed outside the lines of its former canvas. In greatest contrast to For Emma…, Vernon here communicates mood, atmosphere, emotion through the louds and quiets that permeate his soundtrack. It is through such layering and climaxing of instrumentation in one moment, that brings more injected weight to moments of poetic recognition that allow him to realise “at once I knew I was not magnificent” in one moment, before concluding in ‘Beth/Rest’ “I ain’t living in the dark no more”.
Heavier synth sounds feature over fingerplucked guitars which hearken back to his lo-fi folk beginnings, ‘Holocene’ most reminiscent though no less of a standout track than his more vast digressions from the sparse tools of his initial trade. Even his trademark vocals, as ethereal as ever, are too morphed into deeper timbred ruminations on interluding numbers ‘Hinnom, TX’ and ‘Lisbon, OH’. This album is sound proof Vernon’s talents as a songmaker are not pigeonholed to the hushed and layered atmospherics of his debut. While on first appearances an ambitious album, perhaps uncertain of what it wants to be, it succeeds in displaying an expression of sound and an intricacy with detail that shows deft skill in experimentation, something more than making up for moments that don’t quite gel, such as the album closer which comes off as an ambiguous moment of redemption spliced with ’80s guilty pleasure. In more places than not however, this record is a fascinating listen.
Review by: Melanie McGovern
Tracks
Perth:
Holocene
Calgary
Download Calgary
Tour Dates
07/22/11 Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theatre *
07/23/11 Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theatre * – SOLD OUT
07/24/11 Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre * – SOLD OUT
07/25/11 Indianapolis, IN – The Murat Theatre *
07/27/11 Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium *
07/28/11 Atlanta, GA – Cobb Energy Performing Arts
07/29/11 Raleigh, NC – Raleigh Ampitheatre *
07/30/11 Richmond, VA – The National *
08/01/11 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club * – SOLD OUT
08/02/11 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club * – SOLD OUT
08/03/11 Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre *
08/05/11 Boston, MA – House of Blues * – SOLD OUT
08/06/11 Holyoke, MA – Mountain Park *
08/08/11 Toronto, ON – The Sound Academy * – SOLD OUT
08/09/11 New York, NY – The United Palace Theatre * – SOLD OUT
08/10/11 Brooklyn, NY – Celebrate Brooklyn! @ Prospect Park Bandshell* – SOLD OUT
10/19/11 Manchester, UK – 02 Apollo ^ – SOLD OUT
10/20/11 Dublin, Ireland – The Canal Theater ^ – SOLD OUT
10/22/11 Edinburgh, UK – Usher Hall ^
10/23/11 London, UK – HMV Hammersmith Apollo ^
10/24/11 London, UK – HMV Hammersmith Apollo ^ – SOLD OUT
10/26/11 Utrecht, Holland – MCV ^
10/27/11 Brussels, Belgium – AB ^ – SOLD OUT
10/29/11 Paris, France – La Trianon ^
10/30/11 Koln, Germany – E-Werk ^
11/01/11 Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle ^
11/03/11 Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene ^
11/04/11 Stockholm, Sweden – Munchen Bryggeriet ^
11/05/11 Copenhagen, Denmark – Falkoner ^
11/06/11 Hamburg, Germany – Docks ^
11/09/11 Birmingham, UK – 02 Academy ^
11/10/11 Leeds, UK – 02 Academy ^
11/11/11 Bristol, UK – Colston Hall^ – SOLD OUT
* w/ The Rosebuds
^ w/ Kathleen Edwards
Buy Album
Amazon UK: Bon Iver