When something starts to weigh on you, the natural response is to push back. That can take many forms, but for Justin Vernon it meant keeping a safe distance. Confronted by a drastically raised profile following the release of Bon Iver's second album, the Wisconsin native retreated. He collaborated, put on events close to home and generally attempted to keep a low profile for five years, much to the irritation of those who saw his aversion to fame as an affectation. Now, he's modified that approach to drive '22, A Million'.
The Bon Iver sound sketched out on 'Bon Iver, Bon Iver' - almost suffocatingly introspective, but equally beautiful - has been translated into a new language here. Vernon has become a face in a crowd, having brought new sonic elements to bear over songs that will still sweep those who fell hard for his early work from their feet.
Perhaps stemming from his shared orbit with Kanye West, '22, A Million' benefits from a hip-hop-influenced approach to sampling and construction. Vernon has sought to find spots on the emotional spectrum that rap instrumentals can routinely cover due to their unfettered approach to reinterpretation.
Twisting autotune, disintegrating beats and detached snippets of hit songs (notably Paolo Nutini's Iron Sky on 33 "GOD") into shapes that he can work with, Vernon has then hung sublime melodies from them.
Where his path diverges from hip-hop's blueprints is in the cloaked, ambiguous lyrics. The song titles, a mishmash of symbols and disconnected phrases, are so unknowable and (deliberately?) pretentious that they stray into hipster satire, but they do reflect the LP's words. It's hard, almost impossible, to get a complete read on Vernon here.
The end result is that focus always falls back on the record's compositional elements and, in that headspace, it soars. 29 #Strafford APTS, an acoustic island at its heart, is wonderful, while the other end of the scale is represented by the ambition of 10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄ and 33 "GOD". 8 (Circle), meanwhile, basks in a low neon glow and is a ballad of startling beauty.
'22, A Million' is not a subtle album. It's a grand statement that spends a lot of its time pleading for quiet. It will do nothing to dissuade those who see Vernon as calculating or morose from that manner of thinking. But one of its great strengths is its indifference to that sort of criticism. It gives you a stick to beat it with and carries on regardless.
Bon Iver Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri February 10 2017 - BLACKPOOL Empress Ballroom
Sun February 12 2017 - EDINBURGH Playhouse
Mon February 13 2017 - EDINBURGH Playhouse
Wed February 15 2017 - LONDON Roundhouse
Thu February 16 2017 - LONDON Roundhouse
Sun February 19 2017 - LONDON Eventim Apollo
Mon February 20 2017 - LONDON Eventim Apollo
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