SABLE, fABLE＜限定盤/Colored Vinyl＞

The fifth full-length album by Justin Vernons Bon Iver is something of a hybrid affair. SABLE, fABLE includes the three songs from 2024s Sable EP, which Vernon made as a reentry to music after years away, and saw the singer stripping the Bon Iver sound down from the complicated, electronic, and occasionally avant-garde leanings of the recent past to something more focused on his voice and words. The rest of the record -- eight songs and a short concluding instrumental -- come from later sessions where Vernon built on this approach with slightly fuller arrangements that relied on elements of folk, country, and R&B while still foregrounding his voice. With guest appearances by Danielle Haim, Flock of Dimes, and Dijon, and songwriting help from Mk.gee and Tobias Jesso, Jr., SABLE, fABLE is the most mainstream Bon Iver record, which perhaps says more about how the mainstream has shifted more than it does about Vernons slightly altered approach. Like so much of the music of the time, many of the songs here straddle the line where if there were a little more pedal steel, it would be country; if there were a heavier beat, it would be R&B; if the production were a touch slicker, it would be pop. To his credit, Vernon never sells it too hard, but there are songs that feel a little bit forced, especially on "Ill Be There," where he dives headfirst into R&B lover-man territory and drops some lyrics that deserve the sideways glance many listeners are sure to give them. Its also a bit disappointing that instead of swerving further into the folkier, painfully introspective sound that he made his bones on, his choice for a direction moving forward was the slick, somewhat soppy soft rock songs that usually are the worst parts of his records. The sound might be less bombastic than on I, I, but the sentiments are the same, and theres a glossiness that settles over the tracks like a dusting of sugar substitute. It all feels a little directionless and bland; the only times the record really comes alive are on the Sable songs where he sings and plays with a real purpose, or the one or two tracks afterward that break the mold. The cut-up R&B of "Day One" works thanks to good production by Dijon and Flock of Dimes intense vocals, which spur Vernon on to his finest performance here, while "If Only I Could Wait" features nice vocals from Danielle Haim, loads of dubby atmosphere, and is the hookiest track by far. These songs have real stakes and dont feel simultaneously undercooked and overdone like the tunes that lean on sonic cliches and too often devolve into rote empowerment ballads. One cant help but feel that by stripping back his sound to the studs, then rebuilding it the way he has, Vernon has given up too much of his idiosyncratic soul in the process. Too much of this record sounds like it could have been made by almost anyone, and thats not good; neither, in the end, is SABLE, fABLE. ~ Tim Sendra