RETRO REVIEW: Bon Iver - i,i
The ultimate collage of Bon Iver's best bits.
I’ve been writing reviews of music for several years now, and as I get back into writing regularly, I thought I could repost some of my favorite reviews I’ve written here. With Bon Iver’s new album SABLE, fABLE enrapturing me this week, I thought we could look back at the band’s previous album. You can find the original review on my AOTY account here.
After capturing the noises of cold countrysides, warm spring chrouses and glitched-out distress, where could Bon Iver go next? It turns out back to where they previously were. i,i is a mixture of everything you've heard from the band before, with no one element overwhelming the others. In turn it leaves me a little underwhelmed, as it lacks the immediately rewarding nature of the self-titled album or 22, A Million. That being said, new Bon Iver is still a good thing, and i,i is an enjoyable, engaging experience through multiple listens. It's not an event album like their last few but a record that's proof of Justin Vernon's mastery of the band's sound, and I ended up liking it more than I disliked it.
i,i is probably the most Bon Iver record yet. Everything the band has done in the past culminates here, and for the most part it's pretty good. Light synths make up the backbone of the beat on "Salem". Openers "Yi" and "iMi" mixes floaty, drawn out samples of who knows what with organic horns to create a big flourishing finish. The best mix of styles is in "Naeem", a big wonderful number with huge choruses and synth/organic production. I particularly love the gospel-like pianos on "U (Man Like)”, and the big flourishes of drums, guitars, horns and samples on "Naeem" with Vernon's uplifting vocal performance is one of the finest moments the band has achieved yet. These may be sounds you've heard before, but Vernon is so good at mixing them that it's a non-issue.
Vernon's vocals across i,i are clearer than they've ever been, not masked under layers of warbled distortion like on 22, A Million. Yes, there are big choruses he engages in, but a lof of the record is just Vernon straight up singing his heart out. He's calming on "Salem", commanding on "Naeem", and curious on "RABi". His chops on "Hey, Ma" and "U (Man Like)" are some of the best of his career. On tracks with less interesting instrumentals like "Marion" or "Jelmore", Vernon's voice is the reason to keep listening. Lyrically I don't have much comment, but there's nothing that makes me scratch my head, which is a good thing. If i,i has too much in common with past records, it's Vernon's bigger voice that helps sell the record as something new.
A big problem for i,i is that a lot of ideas don't seem fully fleshed out. A track like "Marion" sounds nice at first, but it's initial rhythm is all that it is. "Jelmore" is a bore, with the repetitive synths not making up for the uninteresting lyrics. "We", a song I do like a lot, feels like it could've been extended, as it cuts off before it has a chance to evolve into a truly great track. "Sh'diah" and "iMi" feel more like footnotes, not that important when compared to the meat of the record. There's an overall tendency to move on to the next song quickly on i,i, and personally I felt that it hurts the overall album. These generally beautiful sounds need more time to spread their wings.
The ultimate issue with i,i is it just feels standard. It settles for just being good, rather than pushing boundaries that I expect from the project. The peaks of i,i are still magnificent, yet the valleys are deeper than they've been before. It's still an album I'd recommend, with the note to not expect anything monumental. Now that Bon Iver's seemingly run the course of seasons and sound here, I'm very interested to see how the band will evolve. For a band's lesser effort to still be this good is a testament to their talent, and hopefully they take that talent and continue to evolve.
Verdict: 7.9/10
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