Bon Iver

Usually, I relegate talk of music to my music blog, Carry You Away. I love music, and through my work on that site, I'm finding a lot of new bands, most that I most likely would have never found anyway. Every now and again, I find an artist that just stops me in my tracks. It doesn't happen very often, although I come across a number of artists that I really do like.

The artist that I'm thinking of now is Bon Iver. I first came across him back in January, when Bob Boylan of NPR's All Songs Considered raved about him. Listening to one song, I think Flume, I was hooked from the first notes. With a little digging, I found that Bon Iver is the name of Justin Vernon, who essentially went to the wilderness to get away from the world. With minimal recording equipment, he came back with his album, For Emma, Forever Ago.

How to describe this artist in one word... sublime. The first word that popped into my head was beauty. Vernon's singing is haunting, delicate and graceful, with lyrics that resonate, if a bit odd for some of the songs.

From Re: Stacks:

This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away Your love will be Safe with me

Much of the album is simple guitar and vocals, but every now and then you'll get a burst of sound that startles you to attention. It flows, and there's a perfect balance between the vocals and lyrics here. Easily, this is one of the best artists that I've ever come across.