Bon Iver’s newest album, “22, A Million,” was released after a five-year hiatus for the band following the release of the self-titled “Bon Iver.” Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, however, did not take a hiatus from music in any case. Instead, he turned his attention back to Volcano Choir. Volcano Choir is an indie rock band from Wisconsin, composed of Justin Vernon and members of Collections of Colonies of Bees.
While it may be easy to consider Volcano Choir a side project for Justin Vernon, this is not the case. The band began in 2005 and has released two albums in the span of 12 years. There is no firm timeline for the band; the writing, recording and performing happens over spans of months and eventually ends in the culmination of a finished album.
Volcano Choir and Bon Iver both draw upon natural and organic sounds, but from different environments. While Bon Iver’s early tracks seem to be derived from cold winters spent recording in a cabin in Wisconsin. The sounds and overall theme of “For Emma, Forever Ago” emulates the emotions and feelings one may have when experiencing cabin fever. Volcano Choir draws on a different landscape: the ocean.
“Repave,” Volcano Choir’s most recent album, continues upon the theme of water crashing and oceanic references, including the album artwork, a giant wave that is about to crash against the water. The sound of this wave crashing is emulated in the album’s tracks.
The first track, “Tiderays,” depicts the wave slowly rising and growing strength. The track starts slow and quiet; instruments and voices are continuously added as the song picks up speed, as a wave would as it continues to move along the shoreline. It gains more motion and force as the song continues.
This continues into the next song, “Acetate.” Vernon’s voice is stronger, but the lyrics do not take attention from the overall flow of the song. Volcano Choir uses the lyrics as another layer to create the overall sound of the album.
The album was created after two and a half years of working and reworking the album to create the unified sound that ebbs and flows continuously from track to track. The beauty is in the depiction of this natural phenomenon through music. In my opinion, the cohesive sound of this album is stronger than those found in a Bon Iver album.
Vernon did not participate in writing any chords for this album. He only participated in writing lyrics and singing, but his voice’s familiarity is easily perceived. While Bon Iver’s most popular track, “Skinny Love,” rings in at a whopping 176 million listens, Volcano Choir’s “Byegone” has 6 million listens. Fans of “Skinny Love” would find similar appeal in Volcano Choir’s work, but I believe that they are unaware of Vernon’s other project.
