When Justin Vernon returned to his Bon Iver project in 2024 with his four-track EP, Sable, most thought that would be the end of it. It is so rare to receive new music from the art-folk-pop genre-bender that it felt selfish to expect anything more. The EP is stunning and vulnerable, and Vernon can be heard hinting at acoustic elements being thrown into his heartfelt electro-ambient home court. The infectious and touching “S P E Y S I D E” felt like enough for fans who have been waiting for Vernon to make a move since his 2019 i, i LP. Thankfully, Vernon’s Sable, EP turned out to be only the start. This week (April 11), Bon Iver ends five years of silence with Sable, fABLE, Vernon’s triumphant return to his celebrated moniker.
Vernon’s first full-length in half a decade comes from a place of purity. The 12-song LP includes three of the four tunes from last year’s companion piece and is uplifting, heartbreaking, chaotic yet honed, and a proper welcome home parade for Bon Iver. The blissful, folksy electro-pop that shapes the tracklist is rich in harmony and personality, with Vernon’s vocals sounding as confident and lovely as ever. This is not the experimentation Vernon has become known for but the results of years of self-reflection and sonic toiling. The commercially viable, pop-laden tracklist sounds like Vernon’s response to the far-too-sugary chart-toppers that have tampered with his beloved genre. This is raw, honest pop at its finest, and Vernon sounds right at home, comfortable, and ready to receive his well-deserved flowers.
Each song on SABLE, fABLE slides into the next with joyous falsettos, crooning of love, a sense of home, and encouragement. Outside of the three previously released tracks, which kick off the album with grandiose and heart-touching balladry, Vernon’s latest is finely tuned, left-field pop that is meant to plant itself in your head for days to come. This is a brighter, more jovial side of Vernon that seems to have fallen in love with the creation process all over again. The new songs start with “Short Story,” a quick yet enticing introduction to the swaying pop headspace Vernon occupied while creating this LP. The intro features twinkling keys, sleek guitars, and soaring harmonies, which is a blueprint that would help Vernon build SABLE, fABLE into the modern pop monster it is.
What is miraculous and must be pointed out is that six of the twelve songs on the LP were released as singles. On paper, that’s typically a bad sign. Too many singles can easily drown out the nuances of the tracklist’s structure, but Vernon seemingly skated around this typical inevitability. Singles like the nimble “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and the snowy “Walk Home” are put into a new context when paired with new material, like the piano-driven pop posse cut “Day One.” Simply put, almost any tune on this tracklist could’ve been a single. The soulful “I’ll Be Here” adds the warmth of jazz with splashes of horns, while “There’s A Rhythm” is tinted with Southern influences and could fit comfortably on pop radio.
While Sable, fABLE is an easily digestible record, it is far from conformity to norms. Vernon blends his artsy tendencies with infectious melodies and original song structure, giving these tracks just enough to separate them from your typical commercial outings. Take “From,” for example. The dense yet airy vocal layering gently falls on top of dancing acoustics for a marriage of pop tropes filtered through Vernon’s keen sense of sonic trickery. The LP ends with the ambient piano instrumental “Au Revoir,” a sentimental send-off as the artist puts a bow on what might be the most cohesive and heartfelt Bon Iver album in years.
