10-Year Anniversary of Bon Iver's '22, A Million' Brings Limited Edition Release
new record to be released Nov. 20, look back on the 2016 Justin Vernon project through previously unseen artwork
Evelyn Nelson, photos by Luong Huynh |
Who remembers when locals all piled together, shoulder to shoulder, at what was then a new mural at the corner of Farwell and Eau Claire Street for an exclusive first preview (on a boombox, mind you) of the highly anticipated Bon Iver LP, 22, A Million?
It feels like just yesterday – and 50 years ago, at the same time – but somehow an entire decade has already flown by. Today, Sept. 30, the crew behind Bon Iver is gearing up to mark the release of this seminal record. To celebrate the album’s 10-year anniversary, 22, A Million (10th Anniversary Edition), will be released on Nov. 20 via the Jagjaguwar label.
Paying homage to the physical media that made this album’s debut so memorable for Eau Claire listeners, the anniversary release will bring both a limited edition 12-panel “inverted cross” CD and reimagined frosted silver vinyl, a media release states.
Both feature new cover artwork by its visual artist and now well recognized Bon Iver collaborator, Eric Timothy Carlson. 22, A Million was the first creative partnership between frontman Justin Vernon and Carlson, which has since bloomed into an essential storytelling element of the band’s identity.
This artistic identity has driven subsequent releases – i,i and SABLE, fABLE – alongside global art exhibits, photography and even recent Eaux Claires art installations.
Nestled inside the vinyl edition, a 12-page booklet chronicles the creative journey of 22, A Million, with a never before seen personal essay by Carlson. He offers an in-depth retelling of the album’s symbol-driven language, with meaning behind symbols fans can spot on that downtown Eau Claire corner to this day.
22, A Million (10th Anniversary Edition) Tracklist
22 (OVER S∞∞N)
10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄
715 - CR∑∑KS
33 "GOD"
29 #Strafford APTS
666 ʇ
21 M◊◊N WATER
8 (circle)
____45_____
00000 Million
“The songs were born as numbers, initially an unsettled numerology that calcified over time as the songs came into their own,” Carlson’s essay reads. “The idea was to find an icon to hold each track.
“Roughly a year after we started working together, I met with Justin (Vernon) at a small bar in New York where he first told me the album title, 22, A Million,” he continues. At the time, Vernon shared with Carlson that 22 served as his own lucky number, whereas “A Million” functioned as a representation for humanity at-large.
Fans who showed up to the 2016 listening party in Eau Claire got their hands on limited edition zine (pictured), with themed artwork by Eric Timothy Carlson printed on broadsheet newsprint.
“I drew the repeating forms on a bar napkin in ballpoint pen, inverting the second numeral and nestling it within the baseline foundation of the former,” Carlson wrote. “The result evoked the spiral of a yin yang or chain link; an entanglement … an I and you; a we; a part of the whole.”
Beyond the written words now available to document this journey, Vernon’s team has also released a new supercut of all lyric videos from 22, A Million to celebrate the occasion. Fans can view those compilations online via YouTube.
A collection of all new merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, a football-themed koozie and more – featuring Carlson’s designs is also available for pre-order online, produced by Ambient Inks of Eau Claire.
Ahead of the anniversary release on Nov. 20, consider this your invitation to revisit the album’s 10 iconic tracks or dig up that original 22, A Million newsprint broadsheet from back in the day. If you still have yours, share a look with us?
Pre-order the 22, A Million (10th Anniversary Edition) CD or vinyl online. The anniversary record will be released to streaming on Nov. 20 and available to purchase in person at The Local Store (205 N Dewey St., Eau Claire).
