Photo of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon by Stefan Hoederath
After teasing fans for weeks with the likelihood of new music, Bon Iver made it official on Friday and announced their new album 22, A Million will be released on Sept. 30.
Serving as the followup to 2011's Grammy-winning Bon Iver, Bon Iver, the news was timed with the Justin Vernon-led outfit's headlining performance tonight at Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Vernon, who curates Eaux Claires alongside The National's Aaron Dessner, assured fans back in June that Bon Iver would be playing a "set made of new music."
Last month, the band shared a new video clip featuring the hashtag #22Days and a slew of mysterious artwork, some of which again surfaced this week in a series of murals across different cities globally.
According to a statement from Bon Iver, "22" is said to represent Vernon and "A Million" is the world (the fans). The album is described as "part love letter, part final resting place of two decades of searching for self-understanding like a religion. And the inner-resolution of maybe never finding that understanding."
While it's been over five years since the release of Bon Iver's last album, Vernon has still been active recently, collaborating with Francis and the Lights last month and appearing on James Blake's new album, which was released earlier this year.
The 10-track 22, A Million, which features a number of unusual song titles (as seen below), is available now for pre-order.
Interestingly, Sept. 30 is also the final day of eligibility for the 2017 Grammy Awards.
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Update: Bon Iver has released their new song "22 (OVER S∞∞N)," of which a brief preview was included in the aforementioned teaser. They debuted it in full tonight during Eaux Claires. Subsequently, new song "10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄" has also been released.
Hear both songs below, followed by the tracklist for 22, A Million. The very detailed album credits can also be found here.
22, A Million Tracklist:
01. 22(OVER S∞∞N)
02. 10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄
03. 715 - CRΣΣKS
04. 33 “GOD”
05. 29 #Strafford APTS
06. 666 ʇ
07. 21 M♢♢N WATER (feat. The Staves)
08. 8(circle)
09. ____45____
10. 00000 Million