Justin Vernon, the driving force behind Bon Iver, has been a personal favorite of mine since his debut album For Emma, Forever Ago was released back in 2007. Every one of his releases has been on the Top 31 since the list’s inception (his Blood Bank EP was #17 in 2009, the self-titled Bon Iver was #6 in 2011, and his 2016 album, 22, A Million, was at the top of the list that year and is most definitely in my top 30-50 albums of all time, but I’ve never put that list to paper).

i,i, his fourth full-length album, is yet another beautiful feather in Vernon’s cap. With its release, Bon Iver has reached potential “greatest band” status according to my and my good friend Morgan’s self-imposed rule that governs such things: an artist must have four top-rated albums to qualify for such vaunted categorization. The fact that it’s his first four albums is a feat rarely achieved in music at any time, let alone in modern day. In trying to think of another band’s initial four albums that can be rated in the same way, my mind has to go all the way back to Led Zeppelin I-IV to find a similar stretch of greatness. Nearly unprecedented. As I’m writing this, I’m probably going to regret ranking i,i at #9. Bon Iver’s albums tend to surprise me in their longevity. I may have listened to other bands’ output more in 2019, but it’s probably i,i that I’ll be reaching for regularly in five years time.

The album features an impressive list of collaborators. The band itself has a larger roster than on previous albums: Justin Vernon on vocals, keyboards, guitar; Sean Carey on drums, keyboards, vocals; Matthew McCaughan on drums, vocals; Michael Lewis on bass, saxophone, keyboards, vocals; Andrew Fitzpatrick on guitar, keyboards, vocals; and Jenn Wasner on guitar, vocals. Additionally, James Blake, Aaron Dessner, and Bruce Hornsby all feature prominently across the album.

The songs themselves feel in keeping with 22, a million, but more deconstructed, as if the band picked up the blips, bloops, and blorks from the proverbial cutting room floor and reassembled them into a compelling whole. “Hey, Ma” is the highlight of the production, followed quickly by “U (Man Like)”. Taken out of context, these two songs feel like they could easily have come from a long-lost Bruce Hornsby album. I would have never in a million years drawn a line from Hornsby (he of “The Way It Is” with his band The Range) to Iver, if not for the fact that Hornsby is actually on this album. Knowing that fact, it’s impossible to not see his influence, in the best way possible.

I’m blown away by Vernon’s consistency and departures across his four albums. If you were a fan of 22, a million then you’ll love this new Bon Iver album. Check it out as soon as you can.

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10. Kiwanuka by Michael Kiwanuka
11. The Destroyer (Parts 1 + 2) by TR/ST
12. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish
13. Cheap Queen by King Princess
14. Anima by Thom Yorke
15. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 + 2 by Foals
16. Gallipoli by Beirut
17. My Finest Work Yet by Andrew Bird
18. Four of Arrows by Great Grandpa
19. Designer by Aldous Harding
20. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey
21. Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow
22. Juice B Crypts by Battles
23. Pony by Orville Peck
24. Hyperspace by Beck
25. Eraserland by Strand of Oaks
26. Dogrel by Fontaines DC
27. You’re the Man by Marvin Gaye
28. Big Wows by Stealing Sheep
29. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs
30. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers
31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

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