Album Review: Bon Iver – SABLE, fABLE
3 min read
Indie collective Bon Iver is perhaps best well known for having been birthed from one man’s sickly and lonely time in a cold cabin, but the group is much more than the legend, and certainly more than one man’s vision. Began by Justin Vernon, their haunting debut For Emma, Forever Ago sparked the imagination of listeners would wide, while followup Bon Iver, Bon Iver introduced a wider array of musicians, but retained the chilling and at times mournful nature of Justin’s songwriting. Decades later, a lot has changed, both in the genre and in Justin’s life. While he continues to work with many other notable artist, most famously perhaps Taylor Swift, he has hinted that SABLE, fABLE might not only be the happiest Bon Iver record to date, but the last.
The first quarter of the album is reserved for SABLE, originally released as an EP in late 2024. Four tracks (three if you don’t include the four-seconds of feedback that count as track one), all of which gel Bon Iver’s so-called classic sound. Acoustic guitars, towering vocal layers, and a mix of slide guitars, programmed percussion, and brass. THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS is an excellent opener, Justin opening up about being ‘caught compiling my own news’, and how he is ‘afraid of changing’. It highlights all of his strengths as a songwriter, and well as an arranger, and gives fans everything that they have come to expect from a Bon Iver project. It also highlights his perspective on the music of Bon Iver going into the later album. S P E Y S I D E is a gorgeous acoustic track, Justin crooning about coming to terms with his past with perfect lines like ‘I hope you look; as I fill my book; oh what a waste of wood; nothing’s really happened like I thought it would’, while AWARDS SEASON showcases his storytelling and renewed emancipation.
fABLE takes on a bright and joyous nature that is lacking from Bon Iver’s back catalogue. Short Story acts as a heavenly awakening, flowing into single Everything Is Peaceful Love, bopping drum machines and a solid brass, guitar, and vocal groove leading the charge. Walk Home continues the groove, as well as the powerful group vocals. The looped drums and vocal samples give it a subtle old school hip-hop vibe, but Justin’s voice as well as the rising chord pattern sends it into gospel territory. Day One becomes the first track to have noted features, Dijon and Flock of Dimes both bring their respective vocal pallets to the piano and sample heavy tune. Both manage to raise the song’s simple structure to the whole new level. From is an 80s-esc, acoustic led mid-tempo ballad, Justin employing his fine falsetto, while I’ll Be There becomes the first track to audibly feature HAIM’s Danielle Haim. If I Could Only Wait has her in name also, her voice lending a tenderness to the track. Final tracks There’s A Rhythm and Au Revoir act as one cohesive song, the former acting as a reflection of Justin’s life and connection to Bon Iver, while the latter is a soothing comedown that helps to hammer home the truth of what the album means for the collective.
If the rumours are true, and this is the final album for Bon Iver, then it is a truly happy ending to a melancholic movie. Musically, it could be seen as the most simple sounding album from Justin and the collective, but in this it is one of the better mixed and more cohesive records they’ve produced. Both portions of the album are excellent in their own rights, and there truly is something for everyone over the course of the tracklist. If it is to be a full stop, it’s a clean and clear one.
Writer and Musician, Ryan Bulbeck has been published with a number of online publications, and has worked with a myriad of great artists, both as a performer, and as a producer. His most recent band The 295 are still active, playing shows around the UK.
