As we pretty much all know by now, Bon Iver’s debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago was written in a remote log cabin in northern Wisconsin, where singer and songwriter Justin Vernon hibernated for three winter months following the break-up of a relationship. The heartbreak, guilt and ultimate regret that he felt were so sincerely exposed, that to criticize it would have felt like kicking a man when he was truly down. Not that there was much to criticize; lyrics, so brutally honest, are near flawless and the music and production left nowhere to hide from a truth that was almost too much for anyone, not just Tom Cruise, to handle. Not one to file under ‘Easy Listening’ then, but a widely acknowledged ‘Album of the Year’ (for 2008, although it originally came out in 2007).

So it was always going to be interesting to see how his next release turned out, and how it would be subsequently received without any ‘log cabin mythology’ surrounding it (ironically it was recorded in several locations between December ’06 through to June ’08, that did actually include a cabin). And indeed the music is not a great departure, just a little more fleshed-out and expansive, primarily due to the songs being written with the intention of playing with a band, unlike For Emma, Forever Ago.

Opening track “Blood Bank” is a gorgeous track, as good as anything off For Emma, Forever Ago. Backed by gentle, clean electric guitar strumming and his band’s “woohs”, Vernon’s haunting, effortless vocals arrive: "Well I met you at the blood bank, we were looking at the bags, wondering if any of the colours, matched any of the names we knew on the tags”. It’s no doubt another page of Vernon’s diary that we are voyeuristically sitting through the recital of, but once again, as the song smoulders to a close with whimpering feedback, we are left shamelessly hoping the book never ends.

“Beach Baby” is even more delicate; composed only of a gentle acoustic strum, a soft, sleepy vocal and a placid surf guitar line. It may seem simple but it’s most certainly effective, continuing to draw you in to Vernon’s world. “Babys” (sorry folks, that’s how he spells it) sees Bon Iver use keys for a change; incessantly driving the song along in the way LCD Soundsystem did with “All Your Friends”. There is a lull midway before it reignites to fire the song back into life for the intriguing finale of “summer comes, to multiply, to multiply”.

“Woods” is certainly the most intriguing part of whole EP though. For someone so adept at conveying raw human emotion it’s interesting, and perhaps daring, of Vernon to turn to the robotic sounds of a vocoder. It’s obviously a surprising discovery, but a charming one nonetheless; it’s great to see Vernon experiment with his sound, and it pays off with such vindication. There’s a hint of Laurie Anderson’s 1981 avant-garde hit “O Superman”, and not just because he makes good use of the vocoder, as opposed to Cher’s woeful “Believe”, but also because of the way he makes the robotic sound ghostly; exposing the vocal effects with no instrumentation.

It’s a relief to know that Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon doesn’t need to make himself a recluse in order to produce great music. In fact, the rather wayfaring nature of the recording of Blood Bank , allied with its greater experimentation, demonstrates he is just as creative without constraints as with them. It seems whether journeying artistically or physically, Bon Iver remains a compelling companion.


Track Listing:

Blood Bank
Beach Baby
Babys
Woods


Buy Blood Bank here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Bank-Bon-Iver/dp/B001MJ3MQW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1232573324&sr=8-2



http://www.myspace.com/boniver