Volcano Choir - Unmap

Thu 15th Oct, 2009 in Music Reviews

For Emma, Forever Ago made a huge impact when it appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, in early 2008. Its untamed, raw-nerve catharsis shone through even when the album’s mythic back-story threatened to obscure the music.

The problem inherent in making such a dramatic debut only really becomes clear when the time comes to follow it up. If Justin Vernon (the man behind the Bon Iver moniker) were a lesser artist, he might have been content to endlessly replicate For Emma’s successful formula, riding out the diminishing returns until he fell into obscurity or, even worse, cultural irrelevance (see also: The Strokes).

The subsequent Bon Iver release, the Blood Bank EP, confirmed Vernon’s restless creative spirit, and emphasised the true nature of his skill. Though his aching voice is Bon Iver’s most immediate hook, it is Vernon’s superb arrangement and layering of sounds that makes him so compelling, and hints at an expansive musical future. Those in doubt should check out the footage of Bon Iver’s performance on Letterman: by this stage a full band, the three percussionists/vocalists backing Vernon are critical to recreating the emphatic strikes of Skinny Love’s chorus, without which the song would suffer immeasurably.

It is Vernon’s delicate, magical arrangements that make Volcano Choir’s Unmap such a spine-tingling delight. Far from being – œJustin Vernon supported by Collections of Colonies of Bees ’, Volcano Choir feels like a democratic affair, with Vernon’s distinctive falsetto and rusty guitar amongst many other sounds in the mix. Album opener Husks and Shells establishes this standard, wrapping Vernon’s cooing around a cool, steady beep, his earthy guitar lines echoing and echoed by a clean, precise electric guitar.

Honestly, though, it feels disingenuous to speak of Unmap without mentioning Still – a standout track that so neatly encompasses everything that makes this album so fascinating, and a summary of why Justin Vernon will still be relevant well into the future. Those who’ve heard Blood Bank will quickly recognise the vocal parts from Woods, the EP’s shiver-inducing a capella finale that wove Vernon’s voice around itself over and over, filtering some layers through a vocoder. The effect was initially alien, but it touched upon a kind of pain that an untreated voice could not.

The Volcano Choir incarnation adds shimmering little sonic details to raise the hair on your neck, balancing the heartbreaking quiver of a slide held lightly over steel strings (a Bon Iver specialty) with a humming organ drone. As Vernon’s self-harmonies begin to swell, so does a soft clicking, like a vinyl recording of Morse code that patters in one ear. By the halfway point, the breath catches in your lungs as sparse martial drum strikes hit home, and the song begins to blossom slowly, building to an enormous, trembling crescendo.

Fans of Bon Iver’s primal expression might not find Volcano Choir so immediately gratifying, but true believers will find much to love in the more abstract emotion at the heart of Unmap.

Unmap is out now on Jagjaguwar through Inertia.