âNothingâs really happened like I thought it would,â Justin Vernon admits on âS P E Y S I D E,â the first single from Bon Iverâs forthcoming SABLE, EP. An understatement, perhaps, considering Vernonâs current position: Grammy winner, festival headliner, Taylor Swift co-writer, presidential candidate rally booster. With each subsequent release, Vernon has transformed Bon Iverâs sound, building his songs into innovative, impressionistic collages with lyrics written in his uniquely evocative version of the English language. It was enough to get lost in.
But âS P E Y S I D Eââcontaining little more than Vernonâs rich voice and acoustic guitar, along with some understated violaâloses none of its power for its gentle simplicity. Itâs a lonely song of apology, melodic and interiorâimpressive not due to a cast of collaborators or the lush orchestration or electronic experimentation Vernon has favored as of late, but as a reminder of how little he needs to conjure a specific, powerful kind of wistfulness. âMan, Iâm so sorry,â he sings toward the end: One of the most plain-spoken and unadorned lines in his career, in a song thatâs nevertheless among his most deeply felt.
