Almost as if it got blown in with the polar blast that hit the country overnight, the fourth album from Bon Iver – i,i – has landed in our laps, a full three weeks before it was meant to arrive. Extremely happy Friday, and good winter indeed, my friends.
[jwplayer u2a2Lr5L]
Kicking off at about 6pm last night, the Wisconsin-born collective (that began as a practically-solo project of Justin Vernon) dropped a song, and continues dropping them just about every hour on the hour alongside a lyric video that explores the whole album visually.
“iMi”
Stream https://t.co/ZKHNwvku4s
Watch https://t.co/QJjZBbIf2d#icommaiCreated w/ @3TC3T3RA @jamesblake @beejburton @aaron_dessner @hagentt @buddyross @thisispolica @TUDance @wheezy5th @VelvetNegroni & so many more talents! pic.twitter.com/Enp3TbIWIH
— Bon Iver (@boniver) August 8, 2019
The first track ‘iMi‘ has James Blake, Channey Leaneagh of POLIÇA, and Velvet Negroni joining the Bon Iver family, opening up the autumn-inspired album with warm beats punctured by sharp synths, woven together with Bon Iver’s signature warped vocals and smooth woodwind instruments and horn section.
Drip feeding it all out until around 1am this morning, we now have been gifted with about 99% of the new album that also features Moses Sumney, Aaron Dessner from The National and Big Red Machine, among others. The only thing that’s missing is the short opening track, ‘Yi‘, which I assume we’ll be greeted with when the album physically drops on August 30.
But until then, make a pot of tea/coffee, bung on the heater, grab all your blankets, crawl back into bed and listen to Bon Iver’s fourth, and newest, album, completing the seasonal cycle of records since For Emma, Forever Ago came to us way back in 2007.
Check out all the lyric videos below – with stunning choreography from the contemporary dance company, TU Dance. Happy freezing Friday to you and yours, we truly do not deserve all these feelings.
