'bon iver, bon iver' is justin vernon returning to former haunts with a new spirit. the reprises are there- solitude, quietude, hope and desperation compressed - but always a rhythm arises, a pulse vivified by gratitude and grace notes, some as bright as a bicycle bell. the winter, the legend, has faded to just that, and this is the new momentary present. the icicles have dropped, rising up again as grass. it's there right away, in the thicker-stringed guitar and military snare of 'perth,' and 'minnesota, wi.' anyone who had a single listen to 'for emma' will peg justin vernon's vocals immediately, but there is a sturdiness - an insistence - to 'bon iver, bon iver' that allows him to escape the cabin in the woods without burning it to the ground.
