Bon Iver have announced a new studio album, i,i, set for release on August. 30th via Jagjaguwar Records, along with sharing two more tracks from the effort, “Jelmore” and the song “Faith.”
As was hinted at with the band’s “Sincerity is Forever in Season” teaser trailer, released earlier this month, this is the fourth studio record from Justin Vernon’s project follows in the seasonal pattern of the previous three: 2007’s For Emma, Forever Ago (winter); 2011’s Bon Iver (spring); 2016’s 22, A Million (summer); and now i,i representing the fall.
“It feels very much like the most adult record, the most complete,” Vernon says in a press announcement for the album. “It feels like when you get through all this life, when the sun starts to set, and what happens is you start gaining perspective. And then you can put that perspective into more honest, generous work.”
Vernon recorded i,i at Wisconsin’s April Base and Texas’ Sonic Ranch studios and, according to the press release, at times used all five studio rooms of the latter location simultaneously. For the sessions, Vernon was joined by a band comprising Sean Carey, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Mike Lewis, Matt McCaughan, Rob Moose and Jenn Wasner, along with contributions from James Blake, Brad and Phil Cook, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Bruce Hornsby and several others.
“The title of the record can mean whatever it means to you or me,” Vernon says. “It can mean deciphering and bolstering one’s identity. It can be how important the self is and how unimportant the self is, how we’re all connected.”
Bon Iver will head out on a North American tour in the late summer and fall this year, kicking off August. 31st in Missoula, MT. the two new i,i singles (which follow up the previously released “Hey, Ma” and “U (Man Like)”) .
The Fat Angel Sings 