He already pledged to play mostly new songs during Bon Iver's set this Friday night at his Eaux Claires Music & Art Festival in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wis. Now, it looks like Justin Vernon might have more in mind for this weekend – perhaps even the release of the long-awaited new Bon Iver album.
Wisconsin's Grammy-winning indie-rock hero has been dropping subtle clues in the days leading up to Eaux Claires that something is afoot, including several obtuse social-media messages and even a painted mural in hipster mecca Brooklyn all featuring similar shapes and scrawlings à la album artwork.
It started on July 22, when Bon Iver's Twitter account sent out a 22-second YouTube video with the title "22 Days," featuring the aforementioned artwork and a looped voice singing, "It might be over soon" (posted below). The timing of the tweet would mean a due date of Saturday (Aug. 13), the day after his Eaux Claires appearance.Perhaps a new record could be dropped at midnight just an hour after his 9:20 p.m. set ends Friday? That would be kind of mean to his hardcore fans who are spending the night in a farm field without wi-fi at the Eaux Claire fest campgrounds, but they can survive a day without the record. Or: I know a Culver's not too far away with decent wi-fi.
Since that video went out, the mural in Brooklyn went up with the message "22 Days - It Might Be Over Soon," and several tweets and Instagram posts have been sent out, some showing the numbers 2 and 2 intertwined or other obtuse drawings. Perhaps the best sign of all: Bon Iver has six more gigs on the books in October in California, which could be the warm-up to a proper tour.
Of course, all of this could just mean that a new album is coming eventually, and maybe the "22 Days" thing is just the title of the album or first single. The festival's and band's representatives are keeping mum.
Vernon has certainly had time to plan ahead for a surprise, if one is in store. The last Bon Iver record, "Bon Iver, Bon Iver," was released in 2011.
