The man behind Bon Iver, Justin Vernon, has just announced that he will be releasing a new self-titled album on June 17 on Jagjaguwar through Inertia. Said to see Vernon taking the music out of the cabin in the woods of debut For Emma, Forever Ago and out into a new landscape of electric guitars, piano, keys and subtle horn and string sections, while maintaining the haunting and evocative atmosphere Bon Iver is known for, with the ghost choirs and dense layers of vocals of his earlier work still very much present.
With Vernon having devoted time recently to working on collaborative projects Volcano Choir and GAYNGS, this album has been a long time coming. Recorded at April Base Studios, a veterinary clinic that Vernon and his brother converted into a studio, the album features Bon Iver regulars Sean Carey, Mike Noyce and Matt McCaughan, with Rob Moose (Antony and the Johnsons, The National) helping with arranging and strings as well as Jim Schoenecker and Tom Wincek who worked with Vernon under the Volcano Choir moniker providing processing. The album also features the pedal steel of Greg Leisz (Lucinda Williams, Bill Frisell) and a horn section including Colin Stetson (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire), Mike Lewis (Andrew Bird, Happy Apple), and C.J. Camerieri (Rufus Wainwright, Sufjan Stevens). So yeah it’s pedigree looks pretty indisputable. Vernon’s even had good friend, neighbor and acclaimed author Michael Perry contribute a short-form biography for the album.
