Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

Review Score:

A+

The Unprecedented Times –

Feb 7 / 2023

I have been thinking a lot lately about Bon Iver’s debut record. I was seven years old when it was released, so I’ll admit it sort of went over my head at the time. Until a year or two ago, my only impression of this album was via bedroom acoustic covers of “Skinny Love” by Zooey Deschenel look-alikes. And maybe it’s for the best that I never really delved into this one until I was in my twenties, because I expect the emotional weight of this masterpiece would have been lost on me back in the mid 2000s.

I am far from the first to sing the praises of Justin Vernon’s isolation record. Today, more than fifteen years since the initial release of the project, the debut Bon Iver project is hailed as an inspiration. It is considered to be the grandfather of the indie-folk genre, paving the way for popular groups of the 2010s, such as Mumford and Sons or the Lumineers. And while I find myself enjoying the occasional Lumineers song, nothing holds a candle to the raw emotion captured by Vernon all those years ago.

I didn’t yet know the story behind the album before I started listening in depth. But it only deepened my appreciation after that point. Justin Vernon was a young twenty-something living in North Carolina when his life began to change very quickly. His band, which consisted of longtime friends, fell to infighting and kicked Vernon out of the group. He found himself bedridden from a combination of pneumonia and mononucleosis around the same time. Vernon fell into a deep depression. He had just broken up with his girlfriend and was struggling with a gambling addiction, which he used to cope. Vernon decided to get away from the life he saw slipping away from him. He escaped to his father’s hunting cabin in Wisconsin and emerged months later with For Emma, Forever Ago.

The album begins somber and gentle. Justin Vernon’s simplistic instrumentation is a result of the limited resources at his disposal from his isolation. But these bare sounds allow the beauty of melodies to shine through. Vernon’s lyricism is rich and thoughtful. The album mirrors the artists struggle to process a major life change. It does this both in contemplative tracks (“Blindsided”) as well as through songs that express the frustration Vernon was feeling (“Creature Fear”, “Team”). Occasionally, you can hear the acoustics of the cabin itself. Vernon made the album with limited instrumentation and equipment, planning to later rerecord the tracks with proper studio gear. But his friends encouraged him not to. And his friends were right. I suspect something would be lost if you tried to “clean up” the album. It’s perfect in its imperfections.

Review Score: A+

Gubb wrote this review. You can’t get mad at Gubb.