Bon Iver is always synonymous with quality, but the new album is a next level, brilliant, mature masterpiece.

This album contains the recent SABLE EP untouched as a Disc 1 with its four tracks, including the stunning Speyside. It then gives us a Disc 2 featuring the phenomenal singles ‘Everything Is Peaceful Love’ and ‘If Only I Could Wait’ plus a whole lot more epic goodness.

When Justin Vernon announced the new album in February, he described the inclusion of the SABLE EP as like a prologue, clearing out the decks with three tracks recorded between 2020 and 2023. The second part, ‘fABLE,’ is the main book and a new direction. Whilst this album reflects a return to the less cluttered Indie-folk stylings of earlier Bon Iver work SABLE is about a person finding themself in a dark place emotionally and mentally which then thaws as new love blooms across fABLE. Vernon has said enough to make it clear that much of this relates to his own personal experiences. The six year gap between his previous album and no tour dates to support this new release shows that he has fallen out of love with many aspects of the music business.

Six months on SABLE remains three quite extraordinary tracks. ‘THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS’  remains a lyrical gut-punch as the character analyses their faults with a high degree of self-awareness over a simple yet highly effective acoustic backing. ‘Speyside’ was one of the best tracks released last year, musically understated yet every element combines into an emotionally resonant whole. ‘Awards Season’ completes this short masterpiece with a sense of change and growth beginning to creep in.

After ‘Short Story’ sets the scene for Act 2 ‘Everything is Peaceful Love’ unleashes those new feelings of possibility through new love. Vernon always has possessed a fantastic voice but the range he displays here is borderline miraculous.

‘Day One’ has strong guest turns from Dijon and Flock of Dimes. By ‘From’ that nascent love is in full bloom, though not without a few of life’s bumps along the way. By the end of the album, it is not clear if this is a long-term relationship or not, only to be thankful for the changes and the possibility of change that have been unleashed. Danielle Haim’s appearance on ‘If Only I Could Wait’ is extraordinary, I found this so much more satisfying than the two recent Haim singles. Both Haim and Vernon evoke such huge emotion from their voices. Haim pops up in the backing of other tracks as well.

Taken as a whole, this is a staggering work of art from an artist who was not exactly previously lacking in compliments and hyperbole. This is a fantastically mature, grown-up piece of artistry. It is not pandering to trends or chasing whatever the flavour of the day on Tik-Tok is. There are no tour dates to support this yet, let us hope there is a change of heart and an announcement later on in the year as these new tracks will surely be things of exquisite beauty in a live set combined with Vernon’s already epic back catalogue. He was so serious about stopping touring, however, that he sold off all his band’s live kit after their last tour. Album of the year? It will be up there.