A silver linings songbook

Justin Vernon has swapped indie-folk miserablism for radiant pop music on Bon Iver’s SABLE, fABLE’, says Helen Brown

- Helen Brown

Despite opening this album with the admission that "I have been afraid of changing", indie-folk miserablist Justin Vernon really gets his groove on with SABLE, fABLE, his fifth album with Bon Iver. After all the years of circling his lo-fi anxiety, it's lovely to hear him break out of the log cabin of his own head and breathe in the wholesome wonders of the outside world.

Although he’s spoken of making “radiant pop music”, his version of that (with the help of producer Jim-E Stack) is to brighten his earthy, acoustic landscapes with synths and drum pads. It’s not dissimilar to what Su an Stevens likes to do when finding the silver linings in his own clouds. Single “Everything is Peaceful Love” finds him exalting the ordinary world. “Damn, if I’m not climbing up a tree right now!” he sings, falsetto notes reaching skywards over the slinky, sexy, soulful roll of electro-acoustic fusion. You can almost feel the soft, supple rubber of the 80sstyle drum pads flexing beneath Ben Lester’s easy-going pedal steel solo.