Time for something, to coin a phrase, completely different now...
Title: “The Wolves, Act I and II”
Format: Album track
Written by: Justin Vernon
Performed by: Bon Iver
Genre: Folk
Taken from: For Emma, Forever Ago
Year: 2007
Acclaim: n/a
A band I tried to get into, or, I should I suppose say, an artiste, as it's the one guy, is Bon Iver. He gets a lot of love here in the forum, but when I tried his self-titled second album, while I didn't hate it, it sort of left me with an overwhelming feeling of “So what?”, the same kind of impression I had after listening to another proclaimed god here, the late Eliott Smith. Just didn't get it. Good, yes, but just that. I listened to Newton Faulkner and liked his album, but I wasn't suddenly possessed by an urge to tell everyone how great it was (it isn't; it's okay) whereas certain people here seem to think both these people are something really special. So maybe I just missed the boat. In either case, this is from Vernon's debut album, and again while I've no intention of listening to the whole thing now, it might be interesting to see if anything clicks on this one that failed to on my previous outing into the man's work.
The background to the creation of the album is interesting though. Having become disillusioned with being a songwriter, and also falling ill, Vernon spent time in his father's log cabin in Wisconsin and hunted for his food. Here he began to compose melodies, and later to add lyrics, and though initially reluctant to make an album, pressure and encouragement from family and friends told, and he was quickly signed, releasing his debut album. Given that he did hunt, we can I guess assume that this song came from personal experience, or if not, was at least informed by his attempt to communicate with nature and shut out the hurly-burly of the world.
The first thing I'm reminded of is early Eagles, with the multitracked vocals (I'm pretty sure that's just him singing but it sounds like a choir or at least that he has backing vocalists). Nice slow acoustic guitar, kind of stopping and starting, almost interchanging with the vocals: when one is working the other stops. Mostly. Quite melancholy, which you'd expect, given that he has just broken up with his girlfriend and returned home, having lost interest in music, in just about everything. Guitar and voice meshing a little more now, perhaps this is “Act II”? Hard to know, as it all flows together. Guitar getting more insistent and louder, but not drowning out the vocals, nor ever in any danger of doing so. A lot of emotion and heartache coming through, especially at the end. Very raw. Sort of slight gospel overtones to the music too. Not bad. Still not convinced though.
Things I like about this :
1. Vocal is very good, very warm yet harsh, and given that it's only him it sounds like a lot more
2. Eventual convergence between vocal and guitar works well
3. A lot of emotion in the song
Things I don't like about this:
1. I feel it's hard to understand the falsetto vocal; I don't know what he's singing
2. The end part, where it all stops then comes back up again seems to me to be a little superfluous. Maybe
that's Act II?
Rating: 