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For some time I had been hearing murmurs about Bon Iver, and suggestions had come my way to give the band a listen.  I must have checked them out a time or two, but I never really listened…or I must not have, because now that I have, I’ve found a new favorite album…in fact I’m listening as I type.  Originally released independently in 2007, and mostly recorded in a remote cabin in Wisconsin, the album For Emma, Forever Ago was recently released on the indie-rock label Jagjaguwar. Bon Iver is not really a band, but rather Justin Vernon’s solo project after the breakup of the indie folk group DeYarmond Edison.  This album has been receiving recognition from a number of critics, and was even featured on such shows as Grey’s Anatomy and House M.D. (the latter not necessarily being mentioned as a positive note, but noteworthy nonetheless).

One of the stand out tracks is ‘Skinny Love’, a tale of love wasting away, in which Vernon proclaims ‘Come on, skinny love, just last the year’.  NPR even featured this track as their Song of the Day back in May, offering a different take by saying that.

“Vernon is a deft enough lyricist to keep “Skinny Love” opaque, but a close listen reveals that this isn’t so much a breakup letter as a suicide note”.

His songs are bare and the subject matter simple, creating a poetic landscape of raw emotion. You really feel the physical location and state of mind of Vernon shining through in his recording.  When interviewed by Reveille magazine, he had this to say about the cabin where he recorded the bulk of this album.

“I don’t think there’s any way I could have done it elsewhere. It’s been painted in the reviews of the record as this magical four months of hunkering down and writing a record. In reality I headed out to the cabin because I just didn’t know what to do next in my life. Once I got there though it just felt like all the blocks that I had put in my brain and heart in terms of musical expression started to loosen…”.

Bon Iver is destined for greatness, if he hasn’t already achieved it here.  I recommend you give this album a listen, you’ll be very glad you did, and many of the tracks can be streamed here. I’ll leave you with a lyric from the track ‘Re: Stacks’…

“This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization. It’s the sound of the unlocking and the lift away. Your love will be, safe with me”.

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