Lyrically, Vernon is revealed as something of a poet. These are words that are destined to be poured over and analysed
For Emma, though only nine tracks long, is as beautiful, bleak and intimate as anything 2008 is likely to throw up.
It operates so securely and intensely in its own world – a world of snow and silence and long-percolated memories – that to listen sometimes seem like an intrusive act.
The album evocatively conjures the loneliness of a long northern winter, placing Vernon's lovely songs in a distant, blurred vacuum of physical and emotional isolation.
Although comprising only nine songs spread over less than forty minutes, For Emma, Forever Ago is one of the most captivating collections these ears have heard for some time.
These songs are raw, bold and slightly uncomfortable, but at the same time authentic and therefore extremely special, like the offspring of creativity and isolation at their most fruitful.
Vernon gives a soulful performance full of intuitive swells and fades, his phrasing and pronunciation making his voice as much a purely sonic instrument as his guitar.
The strength is in Vernon’s ability to make a quiet, lonely album that is not boring. Nor is it easily placed into any one genre, unless it’s music recorded in rural Wisconsin cabins.
Though the songs are generally the same – minimalist guitar, a lot of vocals, almost no percussion – it’s the brilliant verse hooks of Flame or the vocal-busting choruses of Skinny Love that make this record.
It revels in its sparseness, layering Vernon's high vocals and gentle guitar lines over and over like soft webs of regret.
This is a recording as pure as the drifting snow which bedded its creator in, and a tender testament to a lonely soul crying into the darkness.
With bolder steps, Bon Iver could become a voice for our generation worth getting excited over. For Emma already is.
It’s timeless, anachronistic music that could have been around for centuries, just waiting to be discovered in the Wisconsin snow. Finally thawed out and brought to life, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without it.
Vernon’s voice — delicately layered and yearning — gives standouts “Skinny Love” and “Flume” their stunningly direct emotional impact, but his sturdy folk chords, earthy melodies, and plainspoken, pastoral lyrics prevent the album from descending into self-pity.
For Emma captures the sound of broken and quiet isolation, wraps it in a beautiful package, and delivers it to your door with a beating, bruised heart.
Vernon’s ability to create sounds that can be felt but not described has produced a work that is both alien and deeply familiar upon first listen, exorcising the ghosts of a love that never quite left you.
For Emma, Forever Ago demonstrates the transformative power an artist wields over his environment. It's a record about space just as much as it seeks to trap and make surrounding space its own, to imbue itself with the personality that exists between notes.
For Emma, Forever Ago can quite easily be compared to being dropped in the middle of the forest with no directions back home. Put simply it sounds a lot like isolation.
For Emma, Forever Ago never turns into a pity party, because Vernon has a light touch, with zero interest in narrative or confessional lyrics.
Bon Iver mines fragile beauty from acoustic guitar, floating vocals, and low-fi recording.
Raw beauty in it's finest form.
For Emma, Forever Ago is the debut album from American indie folk group Bon Iver, initally self-released in July 2007 and then on the label Jagjaguwar in February 2008.
The album was recorded throughout November 2006-January 2007 while lead singer Justin Vernon was staying at his father's hunting cabin in Northwestern Wisconsin. He had been dealing with mononucleosis & a liver infection, as well as slowly becoming more frustrated with his songwriting & ... read more
"It's sort of odd to look back and see it as magical, because it felt like a lonely few months at the cabin, where I plugged in the laptop and fucked around.”
Wow! Thank you so much for 1000 followers! It’s really hard to believe anyone at all cares about my music opinions, let alone agrees with them. I planned to spend some time writing a review I can look back on and be proud for the 1000 follower milestone, but unfortunately life doesn’t let up and this period of my ... read more
i was listening to this while i was swinging at my elementary school it was so joyous
my top 3
1. Flume
2. Creature Fear
3. The Wolves (Act I and II)
i like all the songs
wow this was so beautiful. i was in a different world for 37 minutes.
fav songs: blindsided, for emma, re: stacks
least fav: -
1 | Flume 3:39 | 93 |
2 | Lump Sum 3:21 | 91 |
3 | Skinny Love 3:58 | 94 |
4 | The Wolves (Act I and II) 5:22 | 91 |
5 | Blindsided 5:29 | 91 |
6 | Creature Fear 3:06 | 88 |
7 | Team 1:56 | 82 |
8 | For Emma 3:40 | 93 |
9 | Re: Stacks 6:41 | 93 |
#1 | / | The Guardian |
#3 | / | musicOMH |
#3 | / | No Ripcord |
#4 | / | MOJO |
#4 | / | Paste |
#5 | / | A.V. Club |
#7 | / | Treble |
#10 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#20 | / | Slant |
#23 | / | Consequence of Sound |