Bon Iver: Bon Iver

I’m on a plane headed for Boston. Last night, not unlike last time, I thought my 59 minute flight would be another opportune time to review an album. And this time, I had one eagerly waiting on deck. Justin Vernon’s sophomore album, self-titled “Bon Iver”.  Again, I was able to snag 24-bit FLAC recordings direct from vinyl for this “review-on-the-fly”, so here I sit in 11A again ready to rock!

A little background on Bon Iver if you’re not familiar. Vernon’s first release in 2008 For Emma, Forever Ago, has a unique story behind it that makes the album all that more impactful. After a breakup with his band, the end of a long term relationship and a nasty bout with mononucleosis, Vernon decided to pack up things in North Carolina and move to his father’s cabin in Northern Wisconsin. What started as a “escape from reality” with mostly couch and bed time riddled with tons of Northern Exposure reruns slowly turned into afternoons of song writing and recording. With only a guitar and basic equipment, the winter months turned Justin Vernon into “Bon Iver”. If you haven’t heard the first CD, it’s worth a listen for sure. It only helps better set the stage for this release. 

I’m not going to lie, this is not my first time listening to this album. And while it should be no surprise that I listen several times to discs before I review them, this album has been constantly in the background of my life for the past two weeks. I can’t seem to get enough of it. And while I love artists that take their music and passion in new directions, I was weary of this second album’s release. The first album is such a perfect gem, how could it possibly be followed? Would For Emma, Forever Ago be just a flash of light on the radar?

The album opens beautifully. Already you can tell that this album wasn’t recorded in a cabin in Wisconsin. The sound quality is massively improved, but still manages to not be “over produced”. I love that you get so much of the “Bon Iver” that you know and love, but you are hit with these new waves. It’s definitely a bigger sound, with more of a “band” feel throughout. But somehow it seems to maintain that’s smaller intimate sound. Even on tracks like Towers, where you casually get horns, organ and strings in the back ground, they never overpower what’s truly important, Vernon’s guitar and lofty falsetto. 

By far, my favorite track, while hard to pick out, is the last Beth/Rest. It’s unlike any of the other tracks on the album. It gets built to so well. The organ and drums set this song apart. Really far apart. In fact, if I was the hear this song apart from the rest of the album, I wouldn’t have thought it to be Bon Iver at all. It sounds much more like a late Phil Collins or Peter Gabriel tune. Maybe why I like it so much. 

I know I say this a lot at the end of my reviews, but this album is a MUST own! Buy it!