The mesmerising Bon Iver returned to Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne with their breathtaking live performance.
Emerging in 2008, Justin Vernon released the debut album For Emma, Forever Ago under Bon Iver, introducing Vernon as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation and revealing a distinct sound – tethered to a season of contemplation and the crisp, heart-strung isolation of Winter.
EP Blood Bank followed in 2009 and then Bon Iver’s eponymous sophomore album in 2011, featuring a more frenetic Spring sound. The record topped album charts across the globe, hitting #2 in America and Australia and saw Bon Iver take home Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best New Artist.
2016’s critically acclaimed 22, A Million followed. “It was,” Vernon says, “our crazy energy Summer record” and was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
Bon Iver returned in 2019 with i,i, garnering an ecstatic response upon its release as the outfit’s most expansive, joyful and generous album yet. i,i was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Texas, a tenure which brought Vernon to a calmed and creative state that he channelled into each of the album’s 13 songs.
Bon Iver has evolved from a solo project of Justin Vernon’s to a band with a revolving lineup of collaborators. The core band for the i,i sessions included Sean Carey, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Mike Lewis, Matt McCaughan, and Justin Vernon with Rob Moose and Jenn Wasner, plus contributions from the likes of James Blake, Aaron and Bryce Dessner (The National), Bruce Hornsby, Velvet Negroni, Buddy Ross, Marta Salogni, Moses Sumney, the members of TU Dance, plus many more.
Bon Iver’s long list of notable collaborations continues as Vernon takes intimate, confessional indie folk into increasingly expansive and abstract realms. His early collaborations sprung from the opportunity to sing on Kanye West’s 2010 masterwork, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which yielded an ongoing series of songs with the rapper and transformed Vernon into the world’s unlikeliest hip-hop impresario, with contributions to records by Travis Scott, Vince Staples and Eminem. 2020 saw Vernon join Taylor Swift for a duet on her indie-leaning opus, folklore as well as release singles ‘PDLIF’ and ‘AUATC’. Most recently, Bon Iver featured on Ethan Gruska’s ‘So Unimportant’.
Known for their ability to capture both ambience and landscape in their remarkable music, Bon Iver soothed souls when they reached our shores.
