Justin Vernon has released another single to precede Bon Iver’s highly anticipated September 30th release, 22, A Million, out on Jagjaguwar, conspicuously titled “33 ‘GOD.'” Arguably the most tamely titled track on an otherwise baffling slate of album tracks, “33 ‘GOD'” is magnificently nebulous in its genre depiction of this newest iteration of Bon Iver.
Where For Emma Forever Ago presented a solitary Vernon coming to terms with myriad personal crises (and creating never ending apocrypha of “the cabin”) and Bon Iver, Bon Iver offered a more musically magnanimous version of Bon Iver (and continued to challenge perceptions of “Bonny Bear”), “33 ‘GOD'” combines both.
The track almost comes off as a combative confluence of Bon Iver new and old - seemingly more expansive (a la Bon Iver, Bon Iver) in its warping musicality, all the while seeming more and more enclosed within Vernon’s personal narratives (For Emma), but being something wholly foreign to previous Bon Iver efforts as well.
Musically, the song is all over the place, but in the most ethereal of compositions – the track opens with soulful piano and heavily distorted samples of Paolo Nutini’s “Iron Sky,” along with Lonnie Holley’s “All Rendered Truth.” Sampling is new territory for Bon Iver, but not Vernon, as his famous collaborations with Kanye West have undoubtedly exposed the Eau Claire native to the act quite a bit.
When Vernon’s trademark Bon Iver falsetto comes in, its familiar, but with a more Kanye-esque auto tune timbre, which warps into a brooding howl at certain points as the heavily modded percussion rumbles toward spiritually pitched breaks that recall a less tempestuous Bon Iver; a Bon Iver far less realized than the one “33 ‘GOD'” present.
It should be noted that lyrically, the song features what is arguably Vernon’s most tangible allusion to personal experience – the Ace Hotel. But even with such a fact, The Ace Hotel is a chain, featuring 9 different locations, so insight into what personal allusion the reference holds in Vernon’s journey is still entirely shrouded – as Vernon undoubtedly would prefer it to stay.
It seems unlikely that Vernon will release any more tracks from 22, A Million considering there have already been three singles released prior to the album’s release, and “33 ‘GOD'” just so happened to release on the evening of the same day 22, A Million had its first substantial leak.
That being said, 22, A Million appears to be shaping up as a titan of the 2016 release schedule, and a certifiable top-5 album of 2016 contender.