Bon Iver
For Emma, Forever Ago

4
...according to our Ant on 10 May 2011.

4AD have licensed this Bon Iver album from Jagjaguwar. 'For Emma, Forever Ago' has been played at the towers a few times this week and I've only just learned that this is a debut album which frankly has shocked me as its remarkably accomplished sounding. I get bits of a less weird Panda Bear at times and Scritti Politti at others. The tunes are very well written with some stripped down acoustic guitar bits as well as more atmospheric, dreamy sounds. I really don't know what else to say about this other than it's just an album of really good songs about the trials of life. Another heartbreaker.

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What their label says...

Every record comes out of a specific time and place, but that's more true of this one than most. At the end of 2006, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon spent 3 months alone in a log cabin in Northern Wisconsin, seeking silence, simplicity and solitude. The intention was to fill the time with physical chores - splitting wood, gathering food - but out of this period of isolation and contemplation, music started to emerge. The unexpected, triumphant result was an album of singular beauty.
Vernon self-released ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ last year. He didn't expect a great deal to happen - only 500 copies were made - but word of mouth spread fast, and the initial pressing quickly sold out. Now the record is to receive a richly-deserved wider release through 4AD in Europe.
These songs transcend the limited means - a couple of microphones, a baritone guitar, two drums, a horn and a reverb pedal - that Vernon had at his disposal. They unfurl with the quiet force of Spring, expanding beyond their hushed beginnings, throwing off vibrant colours. “I recognize that the record is enigmatic and special in a strange way,” says Vernon. “I can't take full credit for it, and I was the only one there”.
The Bon Iver band will be supporting Iron & Wine on their UK tour.