Bon Iver, an indie-folk band founded by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, is back. Five years after the release of their most recent album, the band is finally releasing a new EP on Oct. 18, 2024– and they just dropped their first single, “S P E Y S I D E,” on Sep. 20. While Bon Iver has released and been featured on singles in fairly recent memory– one of the most notable being “exile,” a popular track on Taylor Swift’s “folklore” album released in July 2020, this new single will be the band’s first solo release since 2019.
According to Bon Iver’s description of the EP, “Sable” will have many more similarities to the band’s earlier material, relying primarily on acoustic guitar and Vernon’s smooth tenor voice. The lyrical symbolism of “Sable” as a whole seems to reflect Vernon’s own mental state surrounding his fame and anxiety. During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Vernon got to writing about the anxieties and stress that accompanied being in the media spotlight after the success of the album “I, I” and the growing popularity surrounding his name following his high-profile collaborations with massive artists. He was apparently in the midst of a long-brewing breakdown and was considering being done with music permanently. Ironically, the way Vernon coped with this anxiety was by writing music.
In “S P E Y S I D E,” Vernon sings about regret and loss. He apologizes for being the way that he is, especially in the third verse, where he sings, “I can’t rest on no dynasty / Yeah, what is wrong with me? / Man, I’m so sorry / I got the best of me / I really damn been on such a violent spree.” These lyrics reflect a kind of melancholy common in Bon Iver’s early music, similar to the sadness found on one of the band’s most popular tracks, “Skinny Love.” Similarly to “Skinny Love,” “S P E Y S I D E” seems to talk about a man struggling to connect with his partner and feeling regret over their relationship.
The indie folk band released its debut album, “For Emma, Forever Ago,” to critical acclaim in 2007. In what would soon become a pattern of long stretches between full albums, their next project, simply titled “Bon Iver,” wouldn’t be released until 2011.
The sophomore album was met with high praise and earned Bon Iver the Grammy Award for Best New Alternative Music Album and Best New Artist at the 2012 Grammys. In 2016, five years after the release of their self-titled album, they released their third studio album, “22, A Million.” The album is widely seen as the indie band’s emergence into a more experimental sound. Finally, in 2019, their most recent album, “I, I,” was released. It was met with high critical acclaim and was even nominated for Album of the Year at the 2020 Grammys.
For those who are big fans of the band’s earlier material, it seems that “Sable” will be a refreshing return to the pensive sense of yearning that seems to permeate the earlier ventures in Bon Iver’s discography. The EP is set to release on Oct. 18 via Jagjaguwar.
Rating: 8/10
