Bon Iver - Sable fAble: Album Review & Breakdown

Bon Iver, or Justin Vernon, returns from a six year long hiatus with his most hopeful album yet but possibly his last.

The record is incredibly cohesive, each track transitions seamlessly to the next; this makes it a really easy album to digest, especially on the first listen, which can’t entirely be said about Vernon’s previous releases. ‘SABLE fABLE’ has a really nice rhythm to it. It’s the kind of album that can beautifully soundtrack your day, whether that’s cleaning the house, walking the dog or just simply moving through the world.

The journey to ‘SABLE fABLE’ started last October, when Bon Iver released an EP called ‘Sable’. This EP contains the first four tracks of the album, labelled Disc 1. The songs in this EP feel really familiar to the Bon Iver songs of old; melancholic, raw and relatively stripped back. I think intimate and direct is the best way to describe them.

Tracks like Walk Home and S P E Y S I D E sift through old familiar grief but there’s clarity here instead of cryptic codes like the previous Bon Iver songs. THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS stands out as one of Bon Iver’s simplest and most moving songs. It’s just Vernon, his voice and the ache of letting go.

However, ‘SABLE’ was just the beginning and not Vernon’s final destination. If the EP was a chance to let out the rest of his emotions then ‘SABLE fAble’ is the release of weight from his shoulders after a seventeen year long career. It looks like Justin Vernon has finally let go of the burden that created his music originally.

On ‘SABLE fABLE’ those raw beginnings give way to unexpected warmth. The classic Bon Iver themes remain but they are surrounded now by hope. This is an album about healing and it’s Vernon’s most accessible work to date.

Everything Is Peaceful Love is the song that shifts the record into a kind of emotional exhale. If Only I Could Wait (a duet with Danielle Haim, from the band HAIM) and Day One (featuring Dijon and Flock of Dimes) bring unexpected light to the album, whilst From features smooth guitar work from rising music superstar, Mk.gee. The production is clean, open and human. This album was co produced by Jim-E Stack. Stack’s influence can definitely be felt on this album; Bon Iver albums can normally feel choactic, which i don’t mind but this record definitely feels more focused than any other. Stack is currently working on Lorde’s newest album and i would kill to hear a Bon Iver and Lorde collab.

Justin Vernon sounds more present than ever. Where earlier Bon Iver albums often kept the listener at an arm’s length with abstract puzzles and processed vocals, ‘SABLE fABLE’ finds Vernon singing clearly, even quite sweetly at points. On Walk Home, he sings, “Pull me close up to your face honey, I just want the taste”. His lyrics are playful and unguarded in a way we haven’t quite heard before.

By the penultimate track, There’s A Rhythm, Vernon sings, “There’s a rhythm to reclaim, Get tall and walk away” and that lyric alone feels like it sums up the core themes of the album; it’s about finding balance, moving forward and letting go of the past no matter how much it hurts. It’s not an ending but a recovery. Not a retreat but a return.

If ‘SABLE fABLE’ is Bon Iver’s epilogue, it’s a graceful one. If it’s a new beginning, it’s a thrilling reset. Either way, it’s the sound of an artist no longer haunted, only changed.

Check out ‘SABLE fABLE‘ on all your streaming services.