‘A classic break-up album’, I read somewhere about this album. That’s as unfair for the album itself as it is for the whole artistic expression of its songs. But you can’t blame the writer, it does deal with a break-up and it is indeed, a classic.
You all know the story. Justin Vernon secluded himself to a cabin in the woods and wrote an album after suffering a relationship break-up and the dismantling of his previous band. The result is an album that can stand the test of time, and was as essential to the year it was released as it is now.
As I revisit the album to write this review, in its ten year anniversary, I encounter a special but common situation: the feeling of revisiting an album you are sure you know well already, and still be surprised by it. Come on! I even listened to little things and details that I haven’t noticed before! I don’t know what you think, but that is amazing.
This marvelous feature it is not exclusive to this album, but hell, means a lot more when an album is this sparse and straightforward. To summarize my feelings about the album, I will talk about this feeling exactly, beacause, in my opinion, this happens because of two simple yet meaningful reasons which can also describe how I feel about For Emma, Forever Ago.
First. Justin Vernon is a powerful musician and a relentless artist.
Since the release of For Emma, Bon Iver has released two albums and an EP, and also, have been part of different collaborations. All this has shown that Vernon isn’t just another folk crooner with a guitar, he is willing to bend music at his will in order for it to give life to the things he wants to say through it. And, although is more obvious in the orchestral arrangements of Bon Iver, Bon Iver or the weird electronic experiments of 22, A Million, For Emma is where he started it all.
The basslines in Blindsided, the drums at the end of The Wolves (Act I and II), the horn arrangements in For Emma, the way he never settles in his vocal delivery, all this showcased that Vernon was able to make folk music in new and exciting ways, putting Bon Iver ahead of their peers but still keeping them within the spectrum of the genre. It is beautifully arranged and performed and the music well keeps it alive after all this years. In a live setting (which I just enjoyed a couple of weeks ago), this album tracks stand on its own and are mostly played without changes to the album versions, which speaks of the musical weight they have.
Second. It is not the most ‘quintessential Bon Iver album’, it is just their most tangible.
In my opinion, the reason why many people look back to For Emma (and what they say about it), is that the album portrays Bon Iver at their best, they say this is the definitive iteration of the artist. But it is easy to understand that the lyrical experimentation of their next albums could felt more abstract and unrelatable, despite them coming from Vernon’s deep and real feelings, making For Emma, the most lovable album of the three.
The loss of love fills the album with regret, sorrow and the feeling of wanting something back that is not possible to have again. With heavy use of metaphor, the lyrics describe the life of a man that’s deep in contemplation of what he has no more, and what’s next for him, as the love he’s lost doesn’t let him go. All these are feelings everyone has had in their lives, and the album just helps to deal with them and give a meaning to the whole situation. Justin Vernon really lets himself go in the songs, talking about how fickle a love relationship can be and how futile it is to maintain it (Skinny Love), regretting the ending of such a relationship (The Wolves (Act I and II)), and the uncertainty of continuing despite the awful odds (Creature Fear).
That makes For Emma, Forever Ago the album it is today. It is timeless, not just in the well-executed musical ideas, but in the truthfullness of its central theme. One that easily introduced the album into our lives and will forever maintain it essential.
‘This is no the sound of a new man or crizpy realization. It’s the sound of the unlocking and the lift away.’