Album Review: SABLE, fABLE by Bon Iver

Justin Vernon's first album in six years marks a return to his fragile folk roots Since concluding the cycle of the seasons in 2019 with Bon Iver's masterful fourth album i, i - which represented autumn - Justin Vernon has been a man in high demand. Enlisted by the likes of Taylor Swift and The National for collaborations, Vernon most recently appeared on Charli XCX's star-studded Brat remix album, lending his glorious falsetto to I Think About It All The Time. Still, despite his enduring influence on contemporary music, the journey toward a new Bon Iver album has been a winding one.

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But just when Bon Iver hints at fan service, the project of the mysterious and distinct-voiced Wisconsin singer-songwriter Justin Vernon confounds us once again with his optimistic, R&B- and soul-indebted first album in six years, SABLE, fABLE. First released as an EP last year, the opening SABLE side includes "Awards Season," whose climactic horns will spark memories of Bon Iver's lush 2011 self-titled sophomore album, except for the stretches that are naked a cappella, as Vernon sings straightforwardly into the yearning lovers' abyss. Sadly, his lyrics here fall short of the brilliant, briskly economic "S P E Y S I D E.

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Using last year's dour SABLE as its prologue, the first full length in six years from Justin Vernon and friends bounds blissfully into the light. There are sonic snapshots of his career to date peppered throughout, allowing the listener to bask in those warm memories, but there's never a sense that this is a static exercise in nostalgia. The previously-released songs are Bon Iver's starkest since 2009's Blood Bank, but following the luxuriant sax of AWARDS SEASON, Short Story dives into a sunny new era with bright keys and subtle vocals from Kacy Hill.

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there's a rhythmn to reclaim "the only thing left that's constant is the change" - rx bandits It is this terribly liberating awareness of transience that has compelled Justin Vernon to beckon listeners toward the heavy twin gates of SABLE, fABLE, his often resistant, but ultimately captivating surrender to the forces of volatility. On lyrical, musical, and ideological fronts alike, Bon Iver's long awaited fifth full-length is one of reckoning, a confrontation with the ephemerality of the past, the elusive grasp of the future, and a concerted effort to accept the itch of relinquishing control and living in the present. As the scope of the project expands from the introspective seclusion of the SABLE EP to the gripping unpredictability of its nine newly released tracks, Vernon's journey toes a stirring and contradictory line between a peaceful samadhi of his temporary place in the universe, and a ceaseless striving to unearth mummified desires and cling to them, in hopes they may ultimately be fulfilled.

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Vibrance emanates from these songs like never before. Rob Moose's string arrangements and Greg Leisz's pedal steel are eager to uplift every listener on "Everything Is Peaceful Love". Jim-E Stack's meditative drums on "Walk Home" embody steady steps towards brighter days ahead. Some may say that to be blatantly in love is to entertain ignorance, but Justin Vernon determines to paddle along its coast blind.

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Bon Iver purists may feel a familiar sense of frustration after listening to Justin Vernon’s fifth studio album, SABLE, fABLE. On the one hand, the record includes the SABLE EP (2024), which features three strong tracks, including the unmatched “S P E Y S I D E”. That offering hinted at a return to form, even if it included odd capitalization and punctuation choices (are those spaces in the song title?).

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Musically, at least, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon has spent the best part of two decades separating himself from the guy who holed up in a mountain cabin for the creation of the inarguably gorgeous 'For Emma, Forever Ago'. In comparison, 2016's '22, A Million' presented the antithesis of the debut's stripped back heartbreak, favouring arrhythmic electronics over the singer-songwriter affair that permeated both the mountain record, and its double self-titled follow-up depicting a similar wilderness on its cover. Almost six years ago, he released his most recent Bon Iver outing, one that struck a balance between the two but never quite reached as far back as the snowy isolation.

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As big and outward-facing as his music can be, hibernation and isolation have always played a big role in Justin Vernon (a.k.a. Bon Iver)'s creative process. His breakthrough album, 2007's "For Emma, Forever Ago," was the result of several weeks spent alone in a winter cabin in the wilderness of his native Wisconsin, and its aching sound sculptures and multitracked voices perfectly evoke that setting and the breakups (of both a relationship and previous band) that inspired it.

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At this stage, Justin Vernon deserves our trust. As the creative force behind Bon Iver, one of the most successful alternative acts of the last two decades, as well as a slew of handsome side projects that have seen him tackle everything from blues rock to hip-hop, he never does anything without intention and belief. This almost always results in interesting projects and, more often than not, he has delivered masterpieces.

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