A lot of the hype about For Emma, Forever Ago is how Justin Vernon, the sole creative mind behind Bon Iver, secluded himself in a Wisconsin cabin for four months to write it. While that’s cool and all, it’s a gimmick that Vernon is probably growing tired of, if the authenticity and maturity of his masterpiece says anything about his character.

This album gathers up years of heartache, depression and loss poured out unrestrained. It does so without becoming so oversimplified or self-indulgent as to attract the angsty, suburban mallrat who thinks nobody will ever understand how it feels to lose his tenth grade girlfriend of three weeks.

While the songs are simple at their core, they display a certain subtle complexity that speaks of someone who knows how to grieve humbly, earning empathetic understanding without becoming pitiful. It’s the kind of music that is easy to identify with and brings about a certain sense of comfortable sorrow that life is difficult, but that its trials are meaningful. The authenticity is proven in that the lyrics, despite their quality, wouldn’t be entirely necessary to get these ideas across.

I’m as good as the next music nerd when it comes to poking music into genres but For Emma, Forever Ago slips between any genre I can think of. I’d call it freak folk, but it’s not freaky once you grow comfortable with the layers of falsetto and gutteral groans that make up the choir of Justins. I could call it alternative or acoustic, but we all know neither genre means anything these days. There are traces of Americana — remnants from his former band, DeYarmond Edison.

All those descriptors would only cover a small subset of whatever it is these nine songs are. Enjoy them for whatever it is they are. It shouldn’t be too hard.

5 Responses to “Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago”

1. 

   On 05/22/08 7:10 PM, Josh Mock said:

   I suppose I should’ve mentioned that this is my favorite album of the year so far, huh?

3. 

   On 05/23/08 4:36 PM, sammy said:

   The best part is that it’s a million times more awesome live.

5. 

   On 05/23/08 7:23 PM, Josh Mock said:

   So I’ve heard. I got goosebumps watching his Pitchfork.tv set. His Jules Holland performance of Skinny Love was top notch as well.

7. 

   On 05/25/08 4:24 AM, Mike said:

   Not trying to play Devil’s Advocate, but this album is not that great. It’s irrelevant how much effort, heartache, et went into makign a record, or whether they lived on Mars for two years. It’s the final product. This album is mediocre, especially compared to some similar “acoustic” albums of the last few years by Iron & Wine, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Jose Gonzalez.

9. 

   On 12/17/08 12:30 PM, BUZZGRINDER » Josh’s Top 10 Album List of 2008 said:

   [...] 1. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago The only thing I don’t like about this album is that it’s not twice as long as it is. If you haven’t heard it, I will slap you right in the mouth. I don’t feel like repeating myself, so read my review. [...]

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