Perhaps a foregone conclusion considering the new music, new tour dates, and uncovered rarities that have popped up over the last year, but Justin Vernon has confirmed that he has indeed starting working on new music. In a new interview with Billboard in which he talks about the just-announced lineup for his Eaux Claires festival, he mentions that he is “no longer winding down.” Here’s his full response:

I’m no longer winding down. I’m not exactly sure where I am with it. I’ve been winding down for a number of years for numerous reasons. For exhaustion, exposure. It’s never died or anything to me. It’s one of those things that needs to be protected in my own spirit. This Asian tour that we’re doing, playing Eaux Claires last year, playing Eaux Claires this year. You know, we’re not just gonna play the same set we did last year. I’ve been working on music, you know, man. It takes a long time, and I’m not sure exactly what it is or what it means to me, and until that happens I won’t really know exactly what sharing it will look like or feel like or when. There’s sort of this internal pressure, not from anybody but myself, to come out with new music for the festival. But I’m not gonna make myself do anything. I really have to take it step by step and have patience and know that the music — if it comes out, it’s gotta be really true, it’s gotta really live with the other records and extend from them and be reborn and all that. There’s a lot that goes into it. I’ve definitely been working on music.

You can read the full interview here.

Exciting!