Track Review: Bon Iver - S P E Y S I D E
The Wisconsin based folk hero returns with his first solo material in half a decade.
The wait is finally over. Justin Vernon, a.k.a Bon Iver, returns with his first new original solo material since his 2019 album i,i. On the somber and simple single, Vernon strips the music back to what put him on the map in the first place. Gone are the heavy synths, the pounding drums, and the robotic vocoders that have defined his music over the past decade. Armed with just a set of strings and his ever-beautiful and wide-ranging voice, Vernon croons about and reflects on his failings as a man recounting his mistakes. “What a waste of wood, nothing really happened how I thought it would” the singer laments on the track, apologizing to an unknown individual for his recklessness. “Maybe you can still make a man from me?” he ponders, looking forward to changing his ways. The track is a return to his roots in the folk genre and is a wonderful surprise from an artist known for their boundary-pushing experimentation.
S P E Y S I D E is due out September 20th worldwide. It serves as the single for the groups’ forthcoming EP SABLE, due out October 18th.