Words: Rosie Russell
Move over BRAT summer, Bon Iver has rung in the Sad Girl Autumn season with his new track ‘SPEYSIDE’ *puts on an Aran jumper and lights a cinnamon candle* ‘tis the season for regrets and knee-high boots with mini skirts, and what better way to do that than with frontman’s Justin Vernon’s insanely heartbreaking lyrics with his impressive display of vocals and hauntingly intimate guitar.
‘SPEYSIDE’ has hit in all the right ways, a song steeped in guilt and hurt, it really forces its listener to feel that honesty and regret, and almost reminds me of his previous songs with Taylor Swift’s “Exile”, as well as “Evermore” Knowing You’ve Caused Harm to your partner yet facing the blame for it and overcoming that. This song seems to catapult its listener into the Scottish Highlands and the real Speyside area, with its beautiful mountains and river, a perfect background for this autumnal track.
Vernon’s way of making his listeners feel every emotion he felt writing the songs is emphasised in this hauntingly beautiful new song, with lyrics such as ‘Nothing’s really something now the whole things soot’ actively illustrating to the listener the pain in burning bridges with people for their own good, because of your actions. Vernon isn’t afraid of putting himself in a painfully honest light, which is something I admire in his work, in a performance in London’s O2 he revealed ‘When I made this song, I was feeling a lot of guilt, which is an important emotion to have. It’s also an important emotion to get yourself past’.
‘SPEYSIDE’ is an amazing addition to Bon Iver’s ever-impressive discography. The accompanying album promises even better things, so for all my sad autumnal girlies grab your candles and put on Normal People because the forecast is promising foggy showers and a Bon Iver level of emotional torment.
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