It turns out the Bon Iver EP that dropped last fall was just the start of a new era for Justin Vernon – or at least the beginning of a musical phrase that will be completed in April with the release a just-announced album, SABLE, fABLE.
In fact, the new album – the fifth full-length effort from Bon Iver and the first since i,i in 2019 – is described as an “epilogue.” The new album is a continuation of the three-song EP titled SABLE, (the comma was evidently a hint that there was more to come from the frequently enigmatic Vernon).
IN HIS SALMON ERA. Justin Vernon thinking pink(ish) in a promo image for his upcoming album, SABLE, fABLE. (Photo by Graham Tolbert)
“Out April 11 on Jagjaguwar, SABLE, fABLE is the project’s first album in six years, and with it comes a love story set to lush, radiant pop music,” a media release explained. “While the record begins with the vulnerable unburdening of last fall’s three-song SABLE, EP, the triptych seamlessly gives way to a new nine-song saga in which one person becomes two, darkness turns to salmon-colored beauty, and sadness transforms to unbridled joy. Where SABLE, is a sparse and solitary reckoning with a pain that long-defined the past, fABLE looks towards a vibrant future filled with light, purpose and possibility: a partner, new memories, perhaps a family.”
Read into that last bit what you will; as we said, the Grammy-winning Eau Claire native has a habit of being cryptic.
Pre-order the upcoming album SABLE, fABLE from The Local Store right here.
Like last fall’s EP, the new full-length is produced by Vernon and Jim-E Stack, and was mainly recorded at Vernon’s Fall Creek studio, April Base.
“The conceptual genesis for the album occurred on 2.22.22, when Stack arrived at the Base with Danielle Haim,” the media release said. “Snowed in for multiple days, Vernon and Haim’s voices intertwined on ‘If Only I Could Wait,’ a duet with crucial perspective, about not having the strength to be the best version of yourself outside the glow of new love.”
The cover of SABLE, fABLE – whose colors are the inverse of its predecessor EP, SABLE,.
The release continued: “If SABLE, was the prologue, then fABLE is the book – but together, SABLE, fABLE is the album, and for that reason it is no fairy tale. There may be something undeniably healing about infatuation, and the intense clarity, focus, honesty and celebration it brings to these songs. ‘Everything Is Peaceful Love’ is the portrait of a man overwhelmed with happiness upon meeting the one he will fall in love with. But the shadow of SABLE, still looms, and old feelings can return, even after one has put in the work to reset and start fresh.”
The album’s first single, “Everything Is Peaceful Love,” will be released on Friday, Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Day, naturally – along with a music video by John Wilson (of HBO’s How To with John Wilson).
Here’s the full tracklist from the album:
THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS
S P E Y S I D E
AWARDS SEASON
Short Story
Everything Is Peaceful Love
Walk Home
Day One (feat. Dijon and Flock of Dimes)
From
I'll Be There
If Only I Could Wait (feat. Danielle Haim)
There’s A Rhythmn
Au Revoir
SABLE, fABLE will drop April 11. If you can’t wait, you can preorder the album through The Local Store or through a bunch of other music services.
