Bon Iver (“Bonny Bear”) is coming out of hibernation.
The Justin Vernon-led group released an EP, SABLE, and they also launched a new website. Counterpart is described as “an experiment and a search for more voices who might step into the fold, make something new and embody the role of Bon Iver.” Fans are asked to share photos, audio or videos in response to prompts like “Could the essence of a song lie outside the voice that first sang it?” and “Do you have a friend that resembles Justin Vernon?”
You can check out Counterpart here.
In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Vernon discussed the identity behind a song. “I believe in the power of the individual — don’t get me wrong — but I’ve always just found that it distracts from the point. Why do we like a song? Is it because of who’s singing it to us? Or is it the song? And I just think it’s the song. For me, it is. For me, it’s about the song and what the music does. It can be very distracting when it becomes, ‘Oh, I love Bon Iver so much. I want more Bon Iver. I want to see Bon Iver. I want to get his autograph.’ I’m sensitive to it, and the attention can be overwhelming. I’m also uncomfortable with it because it distracts from the point that music delivered me to myself.”
SABLE is out now via Jagjaguwar.