Justin Vernon, leader of the alt-folk band Bon Iver, called their 2016 album 22, A Million, “a new way of telling a story.” It was an understatement. 22, A Million was as experimental as it’s possible to get (short of going atonal), with tons of distortion, drop-outs, and weird sonic artefacts. The combination of disorientating sonic weirdness, gorgeous melodies and crazy song titles proved enormously successful, both critically and commercially. 22, A Million was a major achievement, but, as is often the case with artistic high points, where could they go from there? Getting even weirder risked severing their connection with popular culture, while a more straight-up album might be considered a retreat.
The follow-up album, I,I, released in August, provides the answer. In many ways it is a return…
