When Justin Vernon suddenly appeared as Bon Iver back in 2007/2008 with For Emma, Forever Ago, there were no expectations. But the brilliance of that album, one of the best solitary albums of recent times, meant the expectations for what came next went through the roof, both from the critics and the amassed audience that took that album to their hearts.
Maybe those expectations were concentrated on Bon Iver coming up with more music in the similar vein, but Vernon’s concept proved to be more broadminded and imaginative, and he probably wanted to move away from the experiences that created that album in the first place. He moved into a number of other directions on his follow-up projects, with experimental electronics playing a bigger role than anyone would have expected. Vernon didn’t seem to care much about anyone’s expectation, staying firmly on the track of creating music that suited him exactly at that moment.
And it all seemed to work in his favor, as all of his records up to 2025’s SABLE fABLE, apparently his last studio album, got the acclaim they justly deserved from both sides of the music aisle.
So what is up next? Well, as far as new music we don’t know, but for now he’s releasing a Volumes series akin to some other notable artists (notably Neil Young) which, as he notes, will include live shows, demos, unreleased recordings and other previously unheard material
For the first of these, he’s decided to give time to shine spotlight on the live band he formed during the course of his career, which was built to transfer his studio craft to the stage – and did so spectacularly. The title of the first installment is clear and precise – Volumes: One “Selections From Music Concerts 20219-2023 Bon Iver 6 Piece Band. It does exactly what it says on the tin, with Vernon and his crew (Andrew Fitzpatrick, Jenn Wasner, Matthew McCaughan, Michael Lewis and Sean Carey) showing what Bon Iver’s music is all about. As. Vernon puts it himself – “This particular set of 10 songs is like, ‘Here, if you’ve never heard Bon Iver, or you have and you didn’t like it, this might be for you.’ This is what we became. This is really us at our best. This is it.”
In many ways, that is exactly it – it covers the span of all elements that represents the music of Bon Iver, both as the showcase of the span of Vernon’s songwriting and the actual ability of him and his band to do it justice in a live setting. Notably, Vernon avoided including any songs from that initial album – seemingly telling everybody who cares to listen to this one that he and the band are more that one trick pony.
