It's All In The Music!

[Review] Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver

It seemed as though the sophomore slump was inevitable.  His first album, For Emma, Forever Ago, is known for its beauty as well as its backstory.  It was the musical manifestation of one man’s redemption.  I mean, how do you top that?

For Justin Vernon and crew, it seems the answer lies in evolution rather than duplication.  They’ve made music with artists ranging from Lykke Li to Kanye West, so it’d be foolish to expect them to stick with the same formula.  Imagine your favorite indie film director had the budget to make his dream movie.  Now imagine that didn’t have terrible consequences and that’s what you get here.

I guess the best word I could use to describe this album is “grand.”  Everything is louder and more ornate. But the qualities that made these guys famous are still in there. Vernon’s trademark falsetto remains the center of it all.   Grasping the meaning behind the lyrics requires a level of concentration on par with reading a Dostoevsky novel.  By the end, you’re planning a camping trip because hey, you could use some time to take a look at your life too.  

Recommended.

Highlights: Holocene, Michicant, Perth