Bon Iver were at the vanguard of the indie-folk boom of the late 2000s, just as the world economy turned to bust. That was when Fleet Foxes’s beatific roots-rock went platinum, Mumford & Sons started jangling their infernal banjos, and music writers toggled between the use of “rambunctious” and “hymnal” in effusive reviews.

The new album's dual nature allowed Vernon to leave behind "that 'cabin guy'" and make a conscious decision to "leap into joy."

Sable Fable,' Bon Iver's first full album in six years, is a sprawling but surprisingly cohesive set that defies every attempt to pin a genre on it.