Volcano Choir- Repave

Sorry this is so late everybody! I would have just waited to publish this review in October if it weren't for Dennis's incessant text messages full of all caps and exclamation points, like this:

Fine Dennis, here you go.

I'm a huge Bon Iver fan. I've listed to Bon Iver so many times my Spotify just plays it automatically now when I sign in. It's like my home base album, it centers me and calms me and makes me feel warm and safe. So when I heard about Justin's side project Volcano Choir, I ran to my computer to listen to the latest album, Repave, right away. 

Volcano Choir is like Bon Iver's smoother, sexier, more sophisticated older brother. Just as weird, but more put together, more polished. Also somehow more relaxed at the same time. Repave feels like Justin Vernon (along with members of Collections of Colonies of Bees and All Tiny Creatures) having fun. Hard to imagine, sort of. 

Each song on the album starts off quiet, but never stays that way for long. The crescendos are so crazy- I feel transported to a deserted beach somewhere in Winter time, hearing a wave build and build and then crash, fog in the air and seagulls taking flight. It's a beautiful thing, and these guys did it exactly right. 

This album is full of Vernon's version of a power ballad. Strong and bold, so much emotion and power behind each tune. While Bon Iver feels right at home in a small old theatre, Volcano Choir could fill a stadium. Justin's vocals are definitely the focus on Repave. It's really too bad I can only make out like 3 lines in the entire album. Ya'll know I love a good falsetto, and Justin doesn't disappoint. 

One other thing to note about this album is that it's overtly sexual in it's tone and feeling. Bon Iver is sexy, definitely, but in a subdued, slow and sensual sort of way. Repave puts it all out there; it's romantic and seductive in a way that you can't resist. Pretty hot. To see what I mean, check out "Alaskans". Justin puts away the falsetto and takes on a lower register for this one. It's sultry and haunting, and gets under your skin and stuck in your head before it even begins.

Take a listen y'all.

AK