Bon Ivor - For Emma, Forever Ago
by Andrew Carver
published: 24 / 5 / 2008
Label:
4AD
Format: CD
intro
Surprisingly muscular-sounding acoustic folk rock on debut album from Bon Ivor, the project of Justin Vernon, recorded solo in the Wisconsin woods in a hunting cabin
Justin Vernon was the least hirsute member of Wisconsin via Raleigh, N.C., quartet DeYarmond Edison. The other three members went on to form MegaFaun (most recently seen touring as part of Akron/Family), while Justin Vernon returned to the Wisconsin woods to record solo in a hunting cabin. The basic recipe is simple: Vernon and his acoustic guitar. Despite that, the album sounds fairly full – unlike similar acts of cabin-folk (Asa Irons and Swann Miller’s self-titled album springs to mind). Vernon isn’t shy about overlaying his vocals with some judicious multi-tracking, adding in an extra instrument or, in ‘The Wolves (Act I and II)’ to lay on a clattering bridge before the whimpering conclusion. As a result, ‘For Emma’ is too muscular to be described as spectral, even when the melancholy minor key tunes so ably suggest the loneliness of the Wisconsin cabin where they were recorded. A frequently beautiful work, much of ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ is contained in Vernon’s ethereal falsetto. At times he sounds like Tunde Adebimpe, and Bon Hiver could be a rustic TV on The Radio. When Vernon masses his vocals into a choir, the effect is close to heavenly. At more delicate points he hits the same nerves as Nick Drake’s starkest work. ‘For Emma’ has already garnered wide acclaim, and fans of outfits like Shearwater and Iron and Wine should find it right up their alley.
Track Listing:-
1 Flume2 Lump Sum
3 Skinny Love
4 The Wolves (Act I and II)
5 Blindsided
6 Creature Fear
7 Team
8 For Emma
9 re:stacks
Label Links:-
http://www.4ad.com/https://www.facebook.com/fourad/
https://twitter.com/4AD_Official
https://plus.google.com/explore/4AD
live reviews |
|
Forum, London, 16/5/2008 |
|
| At the Forum in London Chris O' Toole watches Wisconsin singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, who works under the musicial moniker of Bon Ivor, take his rustic, threadbare tales of rural life and transform them into a rollicking live show |
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Yardbirds - Interview with Jim McCarty
Johnny Cash - Video Vault
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
John Philip Shenale - Interview
Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Man From Delmonte - Interview
Loft - Interview
Vapors - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barrett - Loose TalkIvor Game - When Will You Fall Into My Loving Arms?
Gabriel Moreno - Nights in the Belly of Bohemia
Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham - Big Blue Sky
Brooke Combe - Dancing at the Edge of the World
Bryan Adams - Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2024
Shaw's Trailer Park - I Thought I Saw You
Ringo Starr - Look Up
FKA twigs - Eusexua
Leon Bridges - Leon
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart