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22 (OVER S∞∞N)

'22, A Million' and the Dissociation of Bon Iver

Music ReviewSean McHughComment

In observance of Bon Iver’s career catalogue to date, each third can be easily identified through a distinct phase or impression: There was the apocrypha of For Emma, Forever Ago, the prophecy of Bon Iver, Bon Iver, and now the martyrdom that is 22, A Million. While the martyrdom is certainly sensationalistic in some regards, there’s a reason for such nomenclature – following Bon Iver’s 2012 Grammy win for “Best New Artist” and “Best Alternative Album,” Justin Vernon desperately needed (for his own well-being, not for the sake of the masses) to shed the label of “indie god.” In a way, Bon Iver had become exactly what Vernon had feared – a proverbial gateway drug to the world of independent alternative folk rock. So Vernon simply “ended” Bon Iver.

The instantaneous termination of Bon Iver devastated many a self-indulgent millennial hipster, of whom had yearned for an Elliot Smith or Kurt Kobain of their own, and to most, that was Vernon. But being placed on a pedestal of overblown apocrypha and adulation was never a desire of Vernon’s, who sought not to appease the fervent masses that had deified him without his consent. So he disappeared, hiding in plain sight the entire time - five years of runs with the likes of Volcano Choir, The Shouting Matches, (the highly publicized) Kanye West collaborations – but never producing new Bon Iver, outside of a commissioned track for a Zach Braff film (“Heavenly Father”), which Vernon aired his criticism of the process on a handful of occasions.

All the while, self-ascribed Vernon-nites pined for more Bon Iver, but Vernon would assert with great confidence Bon Iver was on hiatus, stating that intense writer’s block and creative stunting had impeded the process of envisioning Bon Iver’s next iteration. Then Eaux Claires came along, rekindling Vernon’s Bon Iver creative kick, presenting two new tracks (“666 ʇ” and “29# Strafford APTS”), and the following year, running through 22, A Million in its entirety.

Thus, indie en masse was aroused by the ensuing prospect of a Bon Iver album release, but at what price? The new tracks and eventual single releases – “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” and “10 d E A T h b R E a s T” – were utterly divisive and dissociative amongst fair-weather Bon Iver listeners, sighting the warbled vocoder effects and reverse percussive sounds alongside emoji-laden song titles as uninspired flourishes. But for the initiated and more familiar of Bon Iver faithful, the meaning of the peculiar track titles and hellish sound sequences were apparent – 22, A Million is the martyrous dissociation of Bon Iver as we know, all the while maintaining every tenant of classic “Bon Iver-dom." There are a myriad of reasons why a devout (with blind faith) Bon Iver disciple would assert that every single song serves as an ahead-of-its-time template that the next wave of industrial folk aficionados will undoubtedly imitate in vain.

22, A Million marks Bon Iver’s most impressionistic work to date, operating almost entirely upon an emotional plane. Songs like “715 – CR∑∑KS” delve into a single location that carries such depth and weight for Vernon that it seems as though there’s an attempt to masque the visceral emotion brought about by Vernon through the intricate (and magnificent) musical composition. Other tracks resemble the attempts at obfuscating emotion through synthetic flourishes, warping a distorted Vernon vocal to almost totally dissociate Eau Claire’s prodigal son, as he only provides the most intense and brief glimpses into Vernon’s past five years with little to no context, tracks like “33 “GOD”” being prime examples – “Staying at the Ace Hotel;” corporate branding, I think not.

Less observant listeners have gone as far as opining the newest iteration of Bon Iver is nothing more than bombast and old hat tricks of the indie trade, but one can only hope that such close-minded dismissal of anything other than For Emma or Bon Iver, Bon Iver will become withered and eventually dismissed within its own right upon a simple careful listen to 22, A Million. Where Vernon’s first two projects dealt primarily with the most outright of narratives in service of emotion and verve, 22, A Million focuses on the atmospheric feeling and synthetic grit to best service the project. While the primary focus of 22, A Million will likely never be revealed, as Vernon has become increasingly reclusive (or at least expressed his desire to do so) throughout the promotional cycle for the record, and tracks like “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” hint at a possible end to Bon Iver – “It might be over soon…” – 22, A Million will serve as the finest dissociation of Justin Vernon from Bon Iver, making it the project’s best work to date, and if things truly will be over soon, Bon Iver’s greatest album ever. 

After Five Years Bon Iver Announces New Album, '22, A Million,' Releases Two New Tracks

New Music, Music NewsSean McHughComment

Hold onto your high and tight fades you hipster hopefuls, Justin Vernon has returned from the proverbial woods to bestow yet another (seemingly) immaculate album via Bon Iver (or “Bonny Bear,” if you have only a casual predilection), entitled 22, A Million.

This might seem like yet another “surprise” release in a year that has been saturated with irrefutably tiresome “event” music cycle, but in true Vernon fashion, promotion for the new record has been under operation in plain site for months (even years). The first indication is the conception of Vernon’s passion project, Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival - which Vernon co-founded with The National’s Aaron Dessner. A festival, which was indicated as an annual event in which Vernon would be able to premiere various Bon Iver and non-Bon Iver, related works.

The second indication came more recently, as promotional efforts ramped up with a mysterious YouTube video released on July 22nd featuring the title “#22days” and a tune that we now know as album single “22 (OVER S∞∞N).” Then, in early August, the Bon Iver socials began to tease artwork, and eventually, a “pedestrian” (really just an industry plant) happened upon a street mural featuring similar art to the 22, A Million album cover.

22, A Million cover art

After the under-our-noses vague promotion, we now know the full, ephemerally wonderful scope of Bon Iver and JV’s shenanigans – 22, A Million is due out on September 30th, via long time Bon Iver label, Jagjaguwar. Vernon and co. premiered the entire 10-track record at Eaux Claires, fully realizing the festival’s purpose, and released two singles from the record immediately following the band’s headlining set.

Between the two singles, it's obvious that the Teenage Engineering OP-1 that Vernon had casually mentioned in a handful of interviews to promote Eaux Claire’s inaugural year in 2015 played a far more substantial role in JV and Bon Iver’s creative process for 22, A Million than anyone could have imagined. “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” and “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⊠ ⊠” both feature every iteration of Bon Iver channeled through OP-1 production styles and effects. Conceivably, Justin Vernon has managed to do the impossible by not only maintaining Bon Iver tenants of musicality, composition, and lyricism, but progressing the entity itself without any repercussions from such growth.

Outside of the two singles, which include the classic lyrical cryptic messaging and phraseology, not much else is known about 22, A Million, and it's likely little else will be revealed until the album’s 9/30 release date. That being said, for the uninitiated that desire to find out more, it should be noted that the number 22 has played an immeasurably substantial role in Vernon’s life, via a press release for the album:

22 stands for Justin Vernon. The number's recurrence in his life has become a meaningful pattern through encounter and recognition. 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. A Million is 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 other side of Justin's duality is the thing that completes him and what he searches for. 22, A Million is thus 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. When Justin sings, "I'm still standing in the need of prayer" he begs the question of what's worth worshipping, or rather, what is possible to worship. If music is a sacred form of discovering, knowing and being, then Bon Iver's albums are totems to that faith.

Seeing as the album is set to release in early Fall, a 2016 tour announcement seems unlikely, but do not be surprised if Bon Iver hits the road in early 2017, as by that point, 22, A Million will have likely achieved indie-immortality that demands JV and Bon Iver’s presence once more.

Listen to “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” and “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⊠ ⊠” and see the full tracklist below:

http://smarturl.it/BI_22AM 22, A Million Out September 30 on Jagjaguwar Created/Produced/Directed by Aaron Anderson & Eric Timothy Carlson Artwork by Eric Timothy Carlson Photograph by Cameron Wittig & Crystal Quinn No Justins were harmed in the making of this lyric video

http://smarturl.it/BI_22AM 22, A Million Out September 30 on Jagjaguwar Created/Produced/Directed by Aaron Anderson & Eric Timothy Carlson Artwork by Eric Timothy Carlson

22, A Million

  1. 22 (OVER S∞∞N)
  2. 10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⊠ ⊠
  3. 715 - CRΣΣKS
  4. 33 “GOD”
  5. 29 #Strafford APTS
  6. 666 ʇ
  7. 21 M♢♢N WATER
  8. 8 (circle)
  9. _45__
  10. 00000 Million