After some teasing and some hints at release, Bon Iver’s third album has finally been released for all to hear. You can head over to Apple Music right now to download or stream the album to grasp whatever intent Justin Vernon has from track to track. Many have gotten earlier chances to hear the album, including those who attended the Eaux Claires Festival in August. Steve Hyden also got an early taste of the album, dropping some hefty praise on it earlier this month:
If you deduced upon hearing 22, A Million’s early singles that Bon Iver’s success — which includes two gold albums and a Grammy for Best New Artist in 2012 — had melted Vernon’s brain, your first listen of the entire album likely won’t disabuse you of that notion…
Even with a relatively swift running time of just over 34 minutes, 22, A Million is a lot to take in. But if you make it to the fifth or sixth listen, what emerges is Bon Iver’s best album.
You can read that review in full over here, possibly some extra credit for when you’re streaming the album throughout the day. If you don’t feel like rushing it yet, you can still hear one of the earlier singles from the album here and then decide what you want to do. And don’t worry, no unneeded shade is being tossed at Beyonce this time around.
