Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Jagjaguwar/4AD

July 8th, 2007.

Bon Iver's debut album turns 15. A Waldenesque venture into the spirit of self discovery, self reliance and stripped back essentials. For Emma, Forever Ago is a meditative journey into the psyche - finding solace in ones self.

Disappointment turns to dust, leaving a hole where disappointment frequently, if not consistently, resides. This dust has potential. The chance to breathe new life into everything. It can fill the hole of disappointment with resentment if you allow it. How you approach the hill is how you take the fall. Your emotions will eat you alive if you let them. They fester and ferment in a way that can go unnoticed - resulting in slow motion decay. Confront the feeling. Realise there's nothing there. One's mind holds its skin suit captive. It's a strong illusion. No greater trick has been pulled - wolf in sheeps clothes. The road is sometimes best traveled alone. Feel things for yourself - strong, but always bearable. Things are meant to be felt and understood. Alone, but not lonely - see it as a test of character. Settle on a diet of self sufficient thought.

After the dust settles - the storm braved - the mind returns to calm. Clarity ensues. The creases of the mind's mounds become well and truly ironed out - soothe the layers back to their essence. Things that once were are now nothing but a memory; a hazey, twisted angle on reality. The ability to see through the fog placed upon a situation is a must in life. Live or let someone else live for you. On the outside looking in it seems like torture, on the inside looking out it is pure freedom.

Bon Iver's debut album For Emma, Forever Ago is nothing short of a desert island disc. A welcome warmth in times of need. A reminder that the sun will rise again - the darkest hour is right before the dawn.