Bon Iver's ‘SPEYSIDE’: Euronews Culture's verdict

As so many great albums do, Bon Iver’s 2008 debut ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ began because of heartbreak. 

Recovering from a serious illness and breakup, the band’s frontman Justin Vernon moved to a remote cabin in Wisconsin, US, where he wrote and recorded songs over the course of three months.  

Its tracks like ‘Flume’, ‘Re: Stacks’ and the oft-covered ‘Skinny Love’ became huge hits, introducing a stripped-back, woodsy and whimsical sound that captured a generations’ growing sense of listlessness and soul-scrunching loneliness; a campfire crackle to coming of age moments. 

Since then, Vernon has released three more studio albums, including 2011’s sweepingly melancholic ‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’, 2016’s experimental, synth-spotted ‘22, A Million’ and 2019’s ‘i,i’, which cemented his place as one of today’s most innovative and beloved musical geniuses. 

In-between, he’s collaborated with some of the world’s biggest artists, like Taylor Swift, The National, Kanye West and, most recently, Charli XCX on her new remix album ‘Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat’. 

The new EP ‘SABLE’ arrives at just the right time, as the season changes, bringing with it the chilly breeze of reflection and a past that's shaking loose any lingering relics. 

Opening with a long discordant bleep, we’re immediately taken to a liminal-like state that’s reminiscent of dial tones or flatlined monitors - a shrill ringing out with no one on the other end. It feels like the sound of a reset, of letting go of what has been.

Vernon’s four new tracks are an achingly beautiful confrontation of change, removing rivets of artifice to reveal an artist at their most vulnerable and restless, moving through states of emotional reconciliation. 

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