walking upstream…
Bon Iver
Justin Vernon built Bon Iver's debut in a snowbound Wisconsin cabin, turning heartbreak and isolation into a hushed, multi-tracked falsetto that felt closer to a hymn than a breakup record. He spent the years after pulling that sound apart, running his voice through vocoders and heavy processing on 22, A Million until the line between confession and glitch nearly disappeared. That willingness to treat the human voice as raw material worth chopping and rebuilding, rather than just recording, echoes forward into a whole generation of bedroom and laptop producers.
the sound in question
2007
Skinny LoveBon Iver
walk the tributaries ↓
The Staple Singers1970s · Gospel / Soul / R&B
Vernon has said his falsetto on 'For Emma, Forever Ago' may have been a reaction to favorite black singers, the Staple Singers among them — the family's close, testifying harmony sits underneath the multi-tracked vocal stacks he builds his songs from.
listen: upstream & here
1956
Uncloudy DayThe Staple Singers
2009
WoodsBon Iver
listen forListen to the Staples' 'Uncloudy Day' for that thick, layered gospel harmony. Then play Bon Iver's a cappella 'Woods' — the same instinct to stack voices into a wall rather than a lead-and-backup arrangement, just run through a vocoder.
Mahalia Jackson1950s · Gospel / Spiritual
Vernon named Mahalia Jackson as one of the black singers he was reacting to when he found his own falsetto — her way of bending a single note until it carries the full emotional weight of a song.
listen: upstream & here
1947
Move On Up a Little HigherMahalia Jackson
2011
HoloceneBon Iver
listen forPlay 'Move On Up a Little Higher' and listen to how much feeling Jackson wrings out of a held note. Then put on 'Holocene' — Vernon reaching for that same weight, even though the instrumentation is worlds apart.
Sam Cooke1960s · Soul / R&B / Gospel
Sam Cooke is another of the singers Vernon has cited as a reference point for 'For Emma' — an effortless, aching smoothness in the upper register that turns plain lyrics into something devastating.
listen: upstream & here
1964
A Change Is Gonna ComeSam Cooke
2007
re: stacksBon Iver
listen forListen to 'A Change Is Gonna Come' for that soaring, unforced high note. Then play Bon Iver's 're: stacks' — a quieter echo of the same instinct to let the voice climb instead of push.