Bon Iver always had the desire to be perceived as more than music. It was art in motion, and all the albums by the project have always illustrated it. Justin Vernon perhaps never imagined being as big of a deal that he became, and the music has been his mask and place to strip down to his core feelings at the same time. Not many recognise Bon Iver, but most recognise the sound in alternative indie music. The band sheds skin and waits to don another–this is the limbo in between. This is SABLE, fABLE.
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From lust, pure desire to journeys and life–we’re in Bon Iver territory from the beginning. However, the concept album aims to be more than that. From the radio beep that opens the album to THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS, this is self-reflection embedded with self-awareness and imposter syndrome in balance. Is the balance great to have as a person? Perhaps not, it might be tearing him apart. As an artist, this is where conversation truly begins.
The gentle chord progressions and flowing harmonies aid the lyrical niches that Bon Iver know how to tread so well. At this time in their life, releasing music to people’s home is rather what Justin Vernon and co. would be doing. We’re zooming into the paradox that performers have to face, all their life. Though it might not be related, let’s see a case study of what tends to happen ever so often.
Like Justin Vernon, many musicians have severe anxiety, perhaps from before and perhaps from the gaze of the crowd. You start as a bedroom performer, and you put your music out for similar minds and perspectives to see and hear. It clicks loudly, for you were able to put into words and tune what would resemble someone else’s psyche and battles. Before you know it, you’re global.
To promote your music, you start performing, but the crowds continue to grow. Starting from a couple 100 in your hometown to thousands soon. The sea of people is a connecting tidal wave to the anxiety before performing. It consequently affects you but you’re in the higher gear now. Bon Iver is a brand, and a brand needs constant exposure. They would make music for free either way, but a livelihood makes it a way of life, of earning, working and barely resting.
I purposely used the word performer, for this is something comedian Bo Burnham opened up about when he stopped performing. His concept comedy special INSIDE was a depiction of his mind as well, where he mentions he stops performing sold out shows because he couldn’t cope with the pre-show anxiety. It is a cruel joke, that the thing that you love most causes a whiplash effect to your very soul.
That’s why, whether there is a tour or not (there isn’t), Bon Iver holds that special place in many listener’s hearts. It’s that loud click that makes people resonate with it like it’s a monologue or background score to their life. It’s what you can hear in this album of 2 discs, each showing an internal battle and external lessons. Each part is a surgical insert into Vernon’s heart, crafting a probe that hurts as much as it fascinates. Bon Iver allows the silence of the song to leave that powerful, demanding impact of the music and lyrics. His signature vocal runs and instrumental pockets build that bludgeoning truth that he sings about so well.
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In a time when we’re saturated with overstimulation, you’re listening to a man, guitar and accompanying strings. The whole story is there, like a fable you read when you were young. Your imagination did a lot of the work, and the same carries on here as well. You can imagine the lessons becoming personifications, either as scars, pathways and new neural connections. A song like AWARDS SEASON touches a place that you might not have the opportunity to experience as an “ordinary person”. The song is moving poetry, strings come together to churn out the meaning of what he’s thinking and obviously experiencing as he sings.
Short Story opens the fABLE part of the album, bringing those expressive layers from a solo studio session to the aural visage he wanted to make for so long. Every song explores a progressive layer of alternative folk and pop–here we’re listening to the journey come to life. Flock of Dimes and Danielle Haim bring a reflection from the outside as well, featured in songs like Day One and If Only I Could Wait. There is a playfulness in how you listen to the lessons the band is learning as a whole.
You will be reminded of Jacob Collier’s music layering, doing much more than just express what is within the song. It leans into the pop that has really popped, not alike any other Bon Iver song you might have heard.
Indie music became huge with Bon Iver. It was music that belonged to people, like Iron and Wine. It’s an artist with their instrument, not lying anymore but being vulnerable about everything they do. It is what now works on social media as well, for the real side of people is what people want to absorb. Vernon might have presented this as a fable, but there’s a slice of his biography here to feel. And it’s always been that way:
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
