On September 30th, Bon Iver will release its first album in five years. Titled 22, A Million, it’s full of drama, disturbances and thrills. We have two tracks for you here, “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” and “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ,” released only moments after the band performed the new music at Justin Vernon’s own Eaux Claires festival in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
The news arrived with lyric videos of two tracks, “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” and “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄” those are the actual titles.
We’re told in a press release that the number 22 “stands for Justin Vernon’s life. The number’s recurrence in his life has become a meaningful pattern through encounter and recognition,” it reads. “A mile marker, a jersey number, a bill total. The reflection of ‘2’ is his identity bound up in duality: the relationship he has with himself and the relationship he has with the rest of the world.“ As for the million, it represents “the rest of that world: the millions of people who we will never know, the infinite and the endless, everything outside one’s self that makes you who you are.”
The press release goes on to contrast it with their previous work. “If 2011’s Bon Iver, Bon Iver built a habitat rooted in physical spaces, then 22, A Million is the letting go of that attachment to a place.”
22, A Million can be ordered on Bon Iver’s website, where bundles that include merchandise and a 12” EP of “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” and “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄”are available. They will promote the record with a selection of live gigs in mid-October.
Bon Iver, ’22, A Million’ Tracklisting
1. “22 (OVER S∞∞N)”
2. “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄”
3. “715 – CR∑∑KS”
4. ”33 ‘GOD’”
5. “29 #Strafford APTS”
6. “666 ʇ”
7. “21 M◊◊N WATER”
8. “8 (circle)”
9. “____45_____”
10. “00000 Million”
This music represents another huge leap in Bon Iver’s music. Gone is the Silvertone guitar; in fact, it’s often tough to pick out more than a smattering of guitar in these songs. Gone, too, is the steady drum beat, and there’s barely a thread of folk music’s acoustic intimacy. It’s going on 10 years since For Emma, Forever Ago, and in that time, Bon Iver has filled the spaces in its sound with stimulation and surprise, as Vernon’s voice is digitized and distorted, sometimes beyond recognition — the effects often obscure the words, at least on first listen. This is “sit down and listen” music. A Report From Bon Iver’s Album .
A press release announcing the new album says that 22, A Million is “part love letter, part final resting place of two decades of searching for self-understanding like a religion. And the inner-resolution of maybe never finding that understanding.”
The last Bon Iver record hinted at what we hear in these new songs, both of which feel at once fragile and muscular. In one moment, an old reel of magnetic tape seems to flake and disintegrate, playing for its final spin. Then, everything sounds synthetic, as if Vernon and his band are creating the equivalent of a new element to the periodic table of music. I’m mostly fascinated these tunes radiate care and spontaneity.
The Fat Angel Sings 