For this new project with what he's called his "favorite band" -- fellow Wisconsites and Outsiders faves Collections Of Colonies Of Bees -- Justin Vernon does much to demystify and escape the loner-folkie backwoods aesthetic/mythology that's colored his Bon Iver material to date. (Occasional dip into auto-tune aside.) The project's called Volcano Choir, and certainly its first single "Island, IS" still pulses with a warm intimacy -- this is just what happens when Vernon vocalizes -- but here Justin's unmistakable falsetto is released from its plaintively strummed trappings, paired instead with a hypnotic little world of COCOB's loops, synths, percussion, aural ephemera. It's lovely, it should be downloaded:
Volcano Choir - "Island, IS" (MP3)
Volcano Choir's Unmap LP has its roots in collaborations from dating back to 2005 -- when Vernon's DeYarmond Edison first toured with Collections Of Colonies Of Bees' on Jon Mueller, Chris Rosenau, Jim Schoenecker, Daniel Spack, and Thomas Wincek -- but this will be their first official release. It's out 9/22 via Jagjaguwar. There are no shows planned, but there should be. Here's a tracklist for you to dream about:
01 "Husks And Shells"
02 "Seeplymouth"
03 "Island, IS"
04 "Dote"
05 "And Gather"
06 "Mbira In The Morass"
07 "Cool Knowledge"
08 "Still"
09 "Youlogy"
