Justin Vernon is putting forth the proposition that each of his four Bon Iver records have been connected to a different season. The Eau Claire, Wisconsin native and proprietor of April Base recording studio just outside of Eau Claire, considers the new album "i,i" to be his autumn record.
Bon Iver made a considerable impression with the 2007 debut album "For Emma, Forever Ago," and the seasonal cycle began with that "winter" record. 2011's "Bon Iver" represents spring, and the wildly experimental "22, A Million" Vernon now refers to as "our crazy energy summer record." The new "i,i" really does sound as though that energy is still present, but things are settling down somewhat.
"It feels very much like the most adult record, the most complete," says Vernon. "It feels like when you get through all this life, when the sun starts to set, and what happens is you start gaining perspective." Perspective on personal identity, perhaps. Consider the pointedly lower case "i" of the album title that shows up again in some of the song titles. The completion of the cycle can be taken as the prelude to a new beginning. Vernon insists that there will be more Bon Iver music to come.
