New Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" & Letterman Video

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:

Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" (MP3)

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.

Posted at 10:03 AM by amrit in Video
Tags: Bon Iver | David Letterman

9 Comments

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

Posted by: jon at 12/15/08 11:02 AM  | Reply
Score = -2

Dude, you are so f-in L337

Posted by: cherryghost at 12/15/08 11:26 AM  | Reply
Score = 1

Dude, I know.

Posted by: jon  in reply to cherryghost's comment at 12/15/08 1:01 PM  | Reply
Score = 0

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

Posted by: Frédéric at 12/15/08 12:04 PM  | Reply
Score = -4

not a fan of the ep.

Posted by: mason in mississippi at 12/15/08 1:17 PM  | Reply
Score = -1

I loves it!

Posted by: google dark at 12/15/08 3:00 PM  | Reply
Score = 0

blood band is defintely becoming one of my favorite songs.

Posted by: Morgan at 12/16/08 3:04 AM  | Reply
Score = 0

That's a lot of drumsticks.

Posted by: Sexual Robotics at 12/19/08 4:36 PM  | Reply
Score = 0

The EP is fantastic.

Posted by: Amanda at 08/19/09 6:22 AM  | Reply
Score = 0