One thing before we begin: Bon Iver, the second and self-titled Album of Justin Vernon’s Folk-project, is the result of a task impossible to solve. Without wanting to repeat the chorus of praise about their debut album For Emma, Forever Ago, it must be stated that there was hardly another album in the last years causing the circus of Indie and Folk to reach such a consensus. Hence, it was obvious from the beginning that critics would try and ignite a big nagging when reviewing the second record and that Vernon would hardly be able to suit any of the expectations. Miraculously, despite all negative leading signs, her still managed to keep the number of weak spots to a minimum. He simply had the dreamy folk-masterpiece that came into being in a lonely forest cottage be followed by something that could be described as a megalomaniac Pop-Epos, at least when measured in Vernon’s normal standards. Synth-layers, electric guitars, drum-rolls and above all that, there is the exceptional falsetto of Justin Vernon. On first glance, the songs’ structures appear to be a bit more complex, leading to the phenomenon that they seem to grow with every re-play in order to manifest and re-fire the cozy feeling that we still remember from the previous album. According to Vernon, For Emma, Forever Ago was his last attempt to stock up one his self-conscious, in order to continuously develop to the highest musical level within the frame of the project Bon Iver. A stroke of good fortune that is responsible for Bon Iver becoming the one and only solution for an impossible task.
Bon Iver
