Bon Iver returned with “Sable”, an EP of three mostly-acoustic songs that were his most stripped-back since “For Emma, Forever Ago”, but with the kind of grizzled reflection that’s to be expected of the 17 years of life Justin Vernon lived since that pivotal debut album. It seemed like a return to form, but as Justin put it in a recent interview with The New York Times, it was more like “the last gasping breath of my former self that really did feel bad for himself.” Those three songs now double as the first three tracks of the new full-length Bon Iver album, “Sable, Fable”, and the rest of the album is a more modern representation of Bon Iver, which transformed over the years from Justin’s solo project into a many-membered collective.
The difference is really clear by the fifth track, “Everything Is Peaceful Love,” a dose of soulful, funky, R&B-infused pop that counteracts Bon Iver’s sadboy era with positivity, joy, and rhythm. “I’m not saying nothing bad about the old stuff,” he said in that NYT interview, “but now I’m just much more like, hey, we don’t got much time left to live — let’s be sexy.”
Justin Vernon is finally happy! And he sounds perhaps more enchanting as a man embracing joy as he did as a lone wanderer in the wintery woodlands of Wisconsin. The album opens on familiar ground with the Sable tracks, and these build beautifully until we reach Fable and Vernon exclaims: “January ain’t the whole world”. From there on the album is a gorgeous celebration of accepting love and happiness through some incredibly vibey and experimental songs in the Bon Iver signature. “If Only I Could Wait”, with Danielle Haim is a standout, alongside “Walk Home”, and the slow submergence into steady love through the album closers There’s a Rhythm and Au Revoir is simply perfect.
The Fat Angel Sings 