From what I know he's not big on touring and if he doesn't want to make music then he won't, but it won't be forever. As Bon Iver, as JV, as part of BRM or Volcano Choir - there's no way he just hangs up.
Yeah, 5-6 year gaps seems to be his sweet spot. I remember him making some comments after Bon Iver, Bon Iver about needing a break and not being sure when he’d make another one which is when we got some other projects from him. Then when 22, A Million released five years later we found out exactly why it had taken so long and that the process was a weight on him mentally. When he released i,i only a few years later he seemed to be in a much happier space and then when he wound down his touring of that album he seemed to be really emotional about it again and started making comments about needing a break and not being sure if or when he’d ever make another Bon Iver album. Then five years later we got Sable, which once again indicated that he’d been in a really low, self reflective headspace. Fable was obviously a far more upbeat antithesis months later, but yeah I think statements like these from him tend to be reflective of who he is as a person and his awareness of how potentially destructive this particular identity and job necessities can be on his mental wellbeing. So, yeah, I’d guess he goes back to producing work for other artists for a while, doing guest vocals here or there, maybe a side project if we’re lucky, and then we’ll check back in around 2030 or so to see how he’s feeling then lol.
He writes as he feels a puts stuff out when it’s ready. He also spins off into the raddest projects in the in between. The headline is absurd lol. The Kanye story is so tired. Press needs to just let that one go. People want to attach him to his mega collaborators but he’s just a regular ass dude from Wisconsin that writes prolific music. BRM is rad but I’d love another volcano record.
Honestly he probably begrudgingly sits down for an interview and they’re probably hitting him with a “ so what are you cooking up” and he’s probably all “eh maybe nothing who knows” then the headline is “BI GONE FOR GOOD” a bunch of this last one was working for years and years.
I do feel like he could realistically choose not to come back to Bon Iver. He could very easily start new projects/bands/collabs with people and hopefully find just as much fulfillment in that. Either way, locality/community is for sure more important to him than "being successful" and we need more artists like that.
The new one feels like a logical endpoint for the project tbh. I think he could walk away from it feeling really good about the output.
I felt that way on BIBI, and then this one blew the door open for him to have a baseline sound that can venture out into different impressions on albums. I think he loves the band and team around it, he keeps surprising himself. they posted two albums worth of tracks and never dropped part 2 on the last BRM. I’m expecting something rad in the next year or two.
I can definitely see him continuing to add to the team that is BI and keep the collaborations going, especially as BRM keeps that door open, too.
It’s probably my favorite JV release ever. Saw the hometown show to close out the run and they had sylvan esso as the surprise opener.
All the years listening to him I never got to see this band live in person so hoping he will at least tour a bit more again eventually
After the first hiatus (from BIBI-22AM) I made it a mission to see them as much as possible because I figured this would happen one day. I made it to 18 shows. Would love to make it an even 20 some day but if that doesn't happen, it's okay. Huge bummer that there almost certainly won't be a 10 year anniversary show for 22AM but hey.. I saw it debuted live and nothing could possibly beat that anyways. There's just no way there isn't new music in the future. It may be not be under the Bon Iver moniker but he's only 44. I'd bet my life on new JV music being released(outside of collaborations) but I wouldn't be surprised if there was never another tour.