{grate 3.5} After the breakup of long-term band DeYarmond Edison in
2006, Justin Vernon pulled a Thoreau, retreating to the woods of Northern
Wisconsin and dedicating four cold months to solitude and what artistry that
might imbue. A round of seasons later and voila: Bon Iver, a purposefully poor
play on the French for “good winter,” emerges, For Emma, Forever Ago in tow.

This is wallowing music — the kind that encourages its
listeners to curl up alone in their rooms. It’s the kind of music that
amplifies not emotion itself, but rather dwells on memories, encouraging a
reflection on the old. As long as wallowing provides a muse, however, its
associated activities aren’t without value.

Acoustic guitar taps compose most of the debut’s rhythmic
structure. Combine this consistent tread-lightly beat with an imperfect
bare-cabin silence or wailing trumpet/slide guitar/whistling in the background.
Then add dozens of layered vocal harmonies — all one guy — merging to create
something reminiscent of a southern spiritual in the foreground.

The completed effect is a powerfully delicate, lonely sort
of sound that at any one time can evoke Andrew Bird (“Blindsided”), Sigur Ros
(“Lump Sum”) or that down-by-the-river song from “O Brother, Where Art Thou”
(“The Wolves [Act I and II]”) while also maintaining command of an essential
aesthetic that’s totally the recluse’s own. It’s worth every miserable moment.

Bon Iver will play at the Che Cafe on March 19.