Bon Iver - Bon Iver

by Tara McEvoy

published: 3 / 8 / 2011

Label: 4AD
Format: CD

Flavourless second album from the much acclaimed Bon Iver, the project of elusive Wisconsin musician Justin Venon

Review

Three years ago, an album emerged from the Wisconsin wilderness that took the world by storm. The elusive Justin Vernon, operating under the pseudonym Bon Iver, had released, in 'For Emma, Forever Ago', one of the best albums of the decade, a poignant collection of heartbreakingly beautiful songs. After such a tremendously received first album, then, anticipation for his next offering rose to fever pitch. Has his second, eponymous album managed to live up to the hype? Sadly, no. Gone is the creeping melancholy and sense of isolation which underpinned his first album, gone are the beautifully hushed effects, replaced instead with the tribal drums of opening ‘Perth’, which seem to be slightly incongruous with Vernon’s dulcet tones. Yet from this point onwards, the album seems to descend into a colourless, flavourless jumble of acoustics and barely distinguishable lyrics. Bon Iver the album is, quite frankly, rather dull - the aural equivalent of blancmange. Perhaps the highlight of the record arrives with first single ‘Wisconsin’, a slow burning, melodic and uplifting tune which harks back to Vernon’s former glory. Yet even this doesn’t hold a candle to the brilliance of any track from his first album, never mind the excellence of standout songs such as ‘Flume’ and ‘Skinny Love’. A sad reality for an artist as clearly talented as Vernon, his latest offering has failed to live up to the enormously high bench mark he set for himself with 'For Emma' – it struggles to shake off a bad case of second album syndrome, and, unfortunately, never quite succeeds.