It’s the best discussed artist bio in blogyears: Bon Iver self-released the spellbinding For Emma, Forever Ago in 2007 after spending a now-storied cold season in the Wisconsin woods. His good winter became a storybook 2008, riding the album’s widespread Jagjaguwar release to a #3 Best Album showing in this year’s Gummys, high praise from corners much further from his backwoods cabin, endless and hailed live sets (including a night at NYC’s Town Hall last week), even a production credit on the Land Of Talk record. Justin recently continued preaching to the late night choir, following a previous appearance on Conan with a powerful three-drummed jaunt on “Skinny Love.” And there’s more: Vernon’s victory lap gets new legs with the forthcoming, four-song Blood Bank EP out this January.

In this first listen of its studio treatment, we find an arrangement removed from the cut’s roadtesting, which we’d characterized as “what you’d expect from a guy who’s recently started writing again while not locked in a cabin, and with a band around … meant to command a crowd from the very start, with a band” in tow. Instead of crashing cymbals up front, the song’s reinvention opens with soulful and subdued multi-tracked harmonies, weaving a shivering falsetto through four-and-a-half minutes of untold secrets, chewed candybars, and a hypnotic, loner’s lovestory. For fans of Bon Iver:

The Blood Bank EP’s out 1/20 via Jagjaguwar. Here’s what you can expect:

01 “Blood Bank”
02 “Beach Baby”
03 “Babys”
04 “Woods”

And, the “Skinny” on Letterman:

For Emma, Forever Ago is out via Jagjaguwar.

Comments (9)
  1. jon   |   Posted on Dec 15th, 2008

    this is a shitty vinyl rip. they’ve been floating around since they’re selling the 12″ on the road.

  2. Dude, you are so f-in L337

  3. Frédéric  |   Posted on Dec 15th, 2008

    This EP is fantastic!!!! He uses auto tune (like Kanye!!!) on the last track, Woods, and the song is awesome!!! I love Bon Iver!!!

  4. mason in mississippi  |   Posted on Dec 15th, 2008

    not a fan of the ep.

  5. blood band is defintely becoming one of my favorite songs.

  6. That’s a lot of drumsticks.

  7. The EP is fantastic.

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