*REVIEW* Bon Iver- 22, A Million

8/10

I was working in a record store, when Bon Iver's debut album arrived. We all played it over the loud-speakers at work. It was on high rotation not just at work, but at home, at parties, this album actually for a period in my life was everywhere. In 2008, it seemed so quaint a record, that you couldn't help but revel in it's stark honesty and solemn beauty.

3 years later, I was in a different job, moved town and had a totally different outlook on things. The second Bon Iver record arrived at a different juncture in my life. While it retained the amazing balladry from For Emma, Forever Ago, it actually improved upon it and more instrumentation was used. It was an amazing accomplishment, and for me it actually left the debut in the dirt for a lot of reasons.. It was actually one of the few sophomore efforts by an artist to surpass their debut.

I was looking forward to what they were about to do next. I saw them when they toured Perth, (and actually played their song "Perth" to a hysterical crowd). It was amazing. But then the feeling of dread occured to me.... the blasted 3 year long wait between albums.

But it turned out to actually be 5..

So again 22 A Million shows up at yet again another juncture in my life.. I am actually 30 now..

Why does any of this back story matter? Well it probably doesn't, but Bon Iver's music tends to touch on different things inside the person listening to it. For most, it's transcendental.. You remember where you were when you first heard "Holocene" or "Skinny Love". This strange high pitched falsetto that became a signature for Justin Vernon, it permeates through the minds of listeners everywhere, it holds a special place, and it always feels like a campfire fanfare whenever on of their songs is being played.

The new album, further advances the Bon Iver sound. 

Opener "22 Over Soon" starts off with a plaintive tale of anticipation. What is about to end, what is about to begin, it's not certain, the only certainty is that everything and everyone changes all the time.

"10dEATHBrEAST" starts off with this embryonic slushy synth sequence that anchors the sound of the track. A very strange song.

The worst aspect of this record, are the tracks where auto-tune is used. "715-Creeks" uses this to exhaustion, and to the point where it becomes a parody of itself. I can understand why it's used in the studio for artist effect, but I feel it detracts from Vernon's haunting voice.

"33 "GOD". This is probably the strongest track on the record. It's melody is the most immediate thing on the record. I'm still really unsure whether this music was made impenetrable on purpose, or just came out that way.

"29 Stafford APTS" recalls For Emma era Bon Iver, the more organic early stuff. Having said that, the vocal effects on this again... they detract from the magic of the song.

"666" uses some over the top overdubs, including some squelchy blast beats over the top of pitched-up vocals. The song is actually quite good, but it suffers from over-production.

 A lot of 22, A Million seems to wallow in it's own indulgence mess, everything from the front artwork, to the ridiculous unpronounceable track titles. 

Underneath all the production flourishes, are the templates for a collection of amazing songs. 22, A Million works best when it is stripped back a bit. "8 (Circle)", even for it's grandiose overdubbing, doesn't seem to have anything that's not necessary in it. When the pitched vocal samples drop in, they don't feel overpowering like some of the other tracks. The horns come in and sound magnificent, recalling the best moments on the self titled LP.

Trever Hagen's foreword to this album, on the offical Bon Iver webpage, alludes to the fact that Justin Vernon felt disillusioned with his career. He had built it up, and put it out into the world and it became bigger than any one member of the group. 

During this time, some side projects and collaborations hinted at what would be next. I think at the time Vernon didn't quite know what that would be. So in analysing the cluttered artwork of the front cover, and the nature of the music, this set of songs were built around fragments. These fragments were stripped apart, put back together again or completely scratched. 

When the worlds of digital and analogue sounds unite on this record, it forms a harmonious marriage of past and present. Bon Iver like to look at remnants of sounds, that's why quite often you can hear saxophones or vocal samples, deep down in the mix.. Like washes of memories, faint reminders of the past.

"00000 Million" closes out this album. I feel polarised. I feel hope and excitement simultaneously. I remember where I was when I heard this. I will always remember.