After a five-year hiatus comes Bon Iver’s fifth studio album. SABLE, fABLE, initially released as an EP, has been accompanied by an intense promotion campaign. With countless brand collaborations, and members of the band even playing basketball at this year’s State Fair, Justin Vernon is certainly proving a point. No longer is he the introspective, mysterious figure we have grown accustomed to, but a happier, more adventurous man – and this record reflects that.
Justin Vernon describes disc 1, SABLE, as the result of an artistic identity crisis in 2020. “Being Bon Iver,” he writes on his website, “meant pressing hard on a metaphorical bruise”. While the record sounds similar to earlier efforts, his lyrics are a lot less shrouded in metaphor. “I never lose, and who’s the benefactor?” he asks, a seeming response to the media making him into an indie darling, on ‘Things Behind Things Behind Things’. The lyrics sometimes come off clunky, as if Vernon isn’t used to paring back the metaphor, and his lack of falsetto makes for a slightly droning melody over the lush instrumental. Still, it sets up the next chapter well.
‘S P E Y S I D E’ would not be out of place on 2008 debut album For Emma, Forever Ago, centring around Vernon’s voice and guitar, with the occasional fiddle part adding a fuller acoustic. Written in 2021, he openly admits, “I really damn been on such a violent spree.” Vernon is hitting his stride here; it’s a sonically lovely package that really examines his shortcomings.
The highlight of SABLE, and arguably the whole album, is ‘AWARDS SEASON’, a five-minute story that Vernon apparently wrote stanzas for on “long walks” – and it shows. Over a wrenching piano opening, he sets the scene: “But then you came to me / From Olympic heavy-duty / We both needed so much soothing”. The instrumental cleverly builds up in a way similar to Blood Bank, but instead of release, it winds down again, ending on the same chord it began with. It’s a measured exploration of a relationship’s formation and collapse, but its strength makes the songs on fABLE that deal with similar themes seem a little underbaked.
fABLE itself is billed as a collection focused on one person: the initial meeting, his desire for them, how the ghosts chronicled in SABLE threaten their relationship, and his eventual “pledge” to be better. Sonically, it’s not as adventurous as earlier pop albums like 22: A Million, with its experimental sound that Vernon believes he “hid behind”. On some tracks in fABLE, the simpler pop tone really works: ‘Everything Is Peaceful Love’ is maybe Bon Iver’s happiest song. The pedal steel and constant mellow synth beat melt into the background of Vernon’s falsetto choruses.
‘Walk Home’ comes next, a strange point in the album. The lyrics (take “Pull me close inside this place / Honey, I just want the taste”) read like a sort of 90s RnB track. However, they sit over an instrumental that starts with the right idea, until synth strings and acoustic piano are added, lifting the song into a major (and mood-killing) chorus. It lacks the punch in the bass and drums that you’d expect from the lyrics, and falls a little flat.
The artist and producer Dijon makes an appearance in ‘Day One’, the third track and a real highlight of fABLE. The sampled beat feels like a hangover from Vernon’s days of collaboration with Kanye and Rick Ross, and every vocalist settles over it perfectly. Its lyrics are vague, not falling prey to the same generalisations present on ‘Walk Home’ and later tracks like ‘From’. This is Vernon in a state of confusion — and it works to his advantage. It feels like ‘If Only I Could Wait’ tries to capture a similar state of crisis, but is let down by the overly one-note, simple beat as well as the vocal melodies not really going anywhere.
‘There’s a Rhythm’, the album’s last vocal track, showcases the gospel and soul influences that Vernon has spoken about in interviews. The intertwining piano and vocal, and simple acoustic guitar in the background, make for a silky listen. Here, he tries to explore the difficulties in this relationship, but with the emotional conclusion being “And now I think you need some space […] Cause you really are a babe” it reads as stunted.
SABLE presents Vernon’s various stages of growth towards producing fABLE. But, listening to it through, you can’t help but feel like the journey is better than the destination.
Image credits: Jagjaguwar
