How Catfish and the Bottlemen are helping redefine indie rockCatch the indie-rock group and Australian festival favourites in the country for Splendour and sideshows this month.
Clear your crying schedules, because here are two new Bon Iver songs
The heart-tugging project of Justin Vernon will share their fourth album, i,i, on August 30th.
Posted By Hayden Davies
5 years ago
Header photo by Graham Tolbert + Crystal Quinn.
It's hard to find an artist as heart-tugging - soul-tugging, perhaps - than Bon Iver. Since For Emma, Forever Ago arrived 11 years ago (!!), Justin Vernon and his live ensemble have crafted themselves a special place in subtle indie music and its relationship with thick emotion, placing it front-and-centre as he swerves between textures and sounds in the albums since - the timeless break-out Bon Iver, Bon Iver and 2016's experimental (and decisive return) 22, A Million.
Despite not hearing what he has planned for us next, it's evident that with its tastes thus far, Bon Iver's forthcoming record may just be his most beautiful - and devastating - yet. It was first teased over a month ago, with Hey Ma and U (Man Like) providing a double-punch of gripping Bon Iver that had Vernon's signature falsetto front-and-centre (it also arrived the same day as new City & Colour, so just RIP us on that day). Now, he's backed it up with two more tastes - Faith and Jelmore - while also announcing his long-awaited fourth album i,i will arrive on August 30th via Jajaguwar.
Recorded at Sonic Ranch in West Texas and April Base in Wisconsin, i,i is said to complete the cycle of Bon Iver, as it explains: "From the winter of For Emma, Forever Ago came the frenetic spring of Bon Iver, Bon Iver, and the unhinged summer of 22, A Million. Now, fall arrives early with i,i. Joined with its two previous tracks, Faith and Jelmore give a touch more insight into how Vernon's return may just sound, capturing his beauty as a musician and the complexities that includes in a straight-to-the-point matter that doesn't feel as muddles or overly-complex as some of his past work. It's distinctly Bon Iver - and that's when he's at his best. "It feels very much like the most adult record, the most complete," says Vernon on the upcoming record. "It feels like when you get through all this life, when the sun starts to set, and what happens is you start gaining perspective. And then you can put that perspective into more honest, generous work."
Guests on the record include James Blake, Brad and Phil Cook, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Bruce Hornsby, Channy Leaneagh, Naeem, Velvet Negroni, Marta Salogni, Francis Starlite, Moses Sumney, TU Dance and more. Pre-order it HERE.
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How Catfish and the Bottlemen are helping redefine indie rockCatch the indie-rock group and Australian festival favourites in the country for Splendour and sideshows this month.
Introducing New Zealand's Mermaidens, who share a new single, I Might DisappearThe rising Wellington trio will showcase at BIGSOUND this September, bringing their post-punk sound across the Tasman.