Coming off their extraordinarily acclaimed debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver announced that they would release a four song EP in January. For those of you, like myself, wondering if the basis of Bon Iver’s greatness lied in the unique atmosphere in which it was recorded, or that, perhaps that cathartic experience may have slightly withered the man’s (Mr. Vernon’s) blossoming creativity, leading to an easy sophomore release of little musical value, I think we can collectively breathe easy.

Jagjaguwar, the label through which Bon Iver supplies their music, released a statement saying that as cold as For Emma, Forever Ago was, Blood Bank EP would be “about the warmth that gets you through it”. Musically, for me it’s about half and half. Lyrically, that statement makes a lot more sense. Blood Bank EP contains four songs that are as different as they possibly could be, yet they all have the distinct feel of Bon Iver, even if they sound like nothing they’ve done before.

“Blood Bank”, the title track, is an absolutely outstanding song. In every way possible. Soft and hushed, yet emotionally in-your-face, this is the “warm”est song on the EP, though it reminds me of a chilly, full moon’d winter night. The lyrics are so succinct and intimate that you feel like you’re the other person in the story. And you love it. This song EASILY ranks up there with anything from For Emma, Forever Ago. It wins the award for best, least cryptic Bon Iver lyrics. Hauntingly beautiful, melodic, catchy, affecting … this is absolutely the centerpiece of the EP. You can hear the entire story in the way he sings “I know it well” at the end of it. After this, you might want to take a break, because compared to the raw emotional power that “Blood Bank” has, the other songs pale in comparison. They are, however, still very high quality songs, which is why I’d advise a break, not to stop listening. “Beach Baby” is the musical equivalent to watching a sunset on the beach from one of those awesome chairs you can only find on the beach. The only catch is, it’s just you, and it’s a rather bittersweet sunset, but perhaps that only acts to enhance it. The incessant, glittery piano of “Babys” is perhaps the strangest way to make a “summer love tribute”. This is my least favorite song on the EP, because it’s super repetitive and there’s not much to it. The way the piano is played, the structure it creates musically, is fascinating, but by putting this on the same album as “Blood Bank”, you unintentionally draw attention away from it. Last is “Woods”, which will almost definitely catch you off-guard. The whole song is done with a vocoder, which some of you might know as auto-tune, but I guarantee you’ve never heard it used like this. It’s as if you handed pro-tools to a secluded group of monks, and they all had just finished listening to 808s and Heartbreak. This song might annoy a lot of people, especially since it’s just four lines repeated over and over again, but the growing intensity, the ever-so-layered vocals, and the melody of it all makes this the second best song on the album for me. So to recap, the “awesomeness” order is:

1. Blood Bank
2. Woods
3. Beach Baby
4. Babys

I don’t really like the disparity between this album and For Emma, Forever Ago. I’m gonna suggest that instead of looking at Blood Bank EP as a sequel to Bon Iver’s debut, you see it as a supplement to it; two sides of the same coin. That said, I have to wonder whether in Justin Vernon’s mind, this EP is an afterthought to For Emma, or an attempted departure. Either way, it’s definitely a quality release, but I wouldn’t have minded a 1 song EP, only containing “Blood Bank” either.