Today (June 22), Bon Iver shared a taste of some of their earliest material. Before Bon Iver was Bon Iver, members Brad Cook, Phil Cook, Justin Vernon and Joe Westerlund were part of a short-lived band called DeYarmond Edison. An upcoming box-set called Epoch, which contains 5-LP, 4-CD and a 114-page story will chronicle DeYarmond Edison by way of music and photography.
Ahead of Epoch, the band has shared “Hazelton,” an early demo that eventually became Bon Iver’s “Holocene.” Vernon previously recorded “Hazelton” between 2005 and 2006, with the idea that it would be part of a solo album. On “Hazelton,” Vernon sings over simple, melancholy guitar loops, not knowing that he would end up foreshadowing the end of DeYarmond Edison
“Saddle up, we’re calling up the pain / Stilling doubt to single out the strain / You came, you saw, you sawed her brain / You cut out all the parts that held your stain,” sings Vernon.
Additionally, the group has also shared “Liner,” a more percussive song, on which Vernon taps into his memories and recalls a painful loss.
“Untied me from the buoy / I sank so you could too / Fall like a wrench / Fall like a rock / Fall like a wall,” he sings.
In addition to music and previously unpublished photos, Epoch will also feature 60,000 words worth of interviews.
“This is the sound of sorting through an overabundance of new info, mostly for yourself, said Grayson
Haver Currin, the box set’s executive producer and biographer, in a statement. “And, even in the rather fraught process, finding out just where it is you’ve been headed your whole life.”
You can listen to “Hazelton” and “Liner” above, and watch a special trailer for the Epoch box set.
Epoch is out 8/18 via Jagjaguwar. Find more information here.