After years of non stop hating on Bon Iver and its leader Justin Vernon, suddenly, in the middle of a gig at Radio City Music Hall last year, it all clicked and I became fan in an instant. My friend Marie is also a fan, a real one, and had been texting me all through the gig from seats further up so in a state of extended gleefulness. So when hearing that Justin Vernon announced be might never write for Bon Iver again, the first thing I did was text her.
She’s crying and I’m not that happy myself.
According to contactmusic.com: “During an interview on Australian radio station Triple J, he said, “I don’t really write songs anymore. The last Bon Iver record was a very ‘sitting down with a guitar and writing’ kind of record. I really have to be in a specific headspace to even begin to illuminate an idea that would create another Bon Iver record, and I’m just not there.
“I’m really honoured that Bon Iver gives me a platform to do whatever I want, but there’s only so much time you can spend digging through yourself before you become insular. I’m not in a hurry to go back to that temperature. All of the music I’ve been making shifting away from Bon Iver feels really good… so if I ever do go back to Bon Iver it will be all the better for it.”
Justin is now playing with his first band Volcano Choir, who have a new album Repave, just released this Tuesday, and who I am gonna see on Saturday the 14th. And I will not offer an opinion right this second. I’ve learnt my lesson.