For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver has produced an incredible album - up there with other melancholic masterpieces such as Van Morrison's 'Astral Weeks' and Jeff Buckley's 'Grace'. A string of incredibly minimalistic, glittering guitar scapes upon which he pins the most fragile, forlorn poetry.

The album was infamously recorded over a 3 month period in a log cabin in the wilds of Wisconsin - and this lonely, desolate atmosphere pervades through the music. Songs such as 'Lump Sum', 'The Wolves' and 'Re:Stacks' are astonishingly beautiful creations and continue to be highly emotive even after months of listening.

Album of the year.

T

As the story goes, the entire album was conceived, written, recorded and produced over the course of just a single winter spend in lead vocalist Justin Vernon's wood cabin, up in the remote mountains of Wisconsin. In this self inflicted "cathartic hibernation" Vernon has managed to create the extraordinary; a revelation.

This is far from another generic male vocal led acoustic album; I believe Bon Iver stands out from the crowd in more ways than one. Vernon's falsetto vocals are particularly beautiful and perfect in relaying the vulnerability and depth of emotion behind the soul searing lyrics. There is a clear sense of emotional purging here, using song writing to vent his feelings and frustrations and the result is an overwhelmingly emotional album without a chart contemporary.

Unlike many acoustic albums, which tend to get a bit...well, "same-y", I find this debut to be refreshing and not at all repetitive. I don't think there's a single song which falls short but a few choice favourites are "Lump Sum", "Skinny Love" and the opening gem "Flume". However the absolute cherry on an already rather sumptuous cake is the stunning closing track "RE: Stacks" - to which belongs the gorgeous closing lyrics which sum up an album which is ultimately about love.

I can only find one slight flaw in this album and that is its length! At only 9 tracks it lasts just over half an hour - and seems to be over all too soon for my liking! As a shortcoming however that is a very minor one indeed, and it is clearly a case of quality over quantity. Each song has been whittled down and worked on for many months on end to achieve as close to perfection as any album I have heard thus far.

I would go so far as to put this is one of my top 10 albums of all time. Buy it; it is truly sublime. 5/5.

I head Skinny Lover on Radio 1 on the 7th May... was such a great song. the sun was out.... its the type of song you can just lie in a park listening it and not have a care in the world. if the rest of the album is like this... its going to be good.

Hopefully, more people will dicover this fantastic album due to the new cover of Skinny Love and appreciate songwriting at its finest.
Haunting songs and ballads that will grace any real music fans collections
Brilliant and highly recommended

This album is amazing. Sit down, turn off the lights and soak up the passion. Justin Vernon's voice is haunting, the songs are surprisingly catchy and i cannot put this CD down. Highly recommended!!