Bon Iver: 22, A Million ALBUM REVIEW

Bon Iver has been an indie darling ever since the release of his debut LP For Emma, Forever Ago, an LP I do think is quite great. I thought a little less of his sophomore self titled LP, but nonetheless, I thought of Bon Iver as an act that elevated itself above the typical indie-folk revivalist groups. They simply brought more polish and subtlety to the mix, and that was something that I appreciated.

However, on this new LP, Bon Iver sees fit to throw out their old sound, which was folk with the occasional synth or electronic element worked in, and have instead opted to do a 180 in their dynamic. 22, A Million is a glitchy, nervous sounding LP that only occasionally takes a break from being "experimental" to put together a cohesive tune. And that in a nutshell, is the LP's greatest flaw.

The opener is pretty strong, it is indeed jittery, but incorporates its many samples and electronic glitches into a cohesive whole. But even this strong moment (one of the albums finest) is dampened by its brevity, something that happens all to often on this album. The following few tracks feature good ideas, like the booming percussion of  "Deathbreast" (no, I'm not spelling the track names in their original format...) and the quiet build up to the climax in "33 God" are all pretty good, but the former meanders into nothingness, and the former dissolves into a cacophony of instrumentation that is earsplitting when listened to with anything louder than a laptop speaker.

However, I will give credit where it is due; the track "Strafford Apts" is one of the most beautiful tracks I've heard all year, and is easily the finest moment the album has to offer. After this track however, the album dives deep into the mundane, with one track after another of half finished ideas that go on for too long. Case and point, the track "21 Moon Water". I have a very hard time, even now, after having listened to the LP dozens of times, even remembering how this song goes. Then the album closes on another strong note with "00000 Million", a delicate and refined piano led ballad, something that Bon Iver has always been great at.

I'm not going to get into the track names or the imagery here, because not only do I not want this to be an essay, but the more I dig, the less impressed I am. All in all, this LP is a disappointment, and anyone throwing praise at it is either blinded by fandom, or is receiving a pretty nice looking paycheck for it. But that's just my opinion.... ugh.

4.5/10