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Into the wild: Bon Iver lived in a shack in the woods while recording his album

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A VERY PRECIOUS TALENT

Summer's almost here and the search is still on for the album of 2008. But the hunt could soon be over, when Bon Iver's astonishing For Emma, Forever Ago is released on 19 May (on the 4AD label).

Most people won't have heard of the singer-songwriter. The 27-year-old Justin Vernon, from Wisconsin, invented a new identity and left conventional methods behind to make his debut as Bon Iver.

Needing to recover from the break-up of his band of 10 years, DeYarmond Edison, and a romantic split with the Emma of the title (it's her middle name), he headed for the woods with a guitar, two drums, a horn and two microphones and spent the winter of 2006 alone in a cabin owned by his father, 70 miles from home.

To give you an idea of what people do for fun this deep into the country, Dad operated a sawmill there as a hobby. Vernon drove a tractor and chopped down trees to build things and also to burn for warmth in temperatures of minus 13C. He shot two deer, which fed him for the four months of his hibernation, aside from the shoulder meat he used to pay for a repair to his guitar. “I really ate more deer meat than you can possibly imagine,” he said. He also recorded his hauntingly beautiful album, its cover a black-and-white picture of a window obscured almost completely by snow. This is the Ray Mears approach to making music.

Going native might not work for every band — I can't see the Rolling Stones getting feral in the forest, making keyboards from twigs and bracken — but in Vernon's case the cold, silence and isolation combined with his bleak mindset to create something truly wonderful. In just nine tracks and 37 minutes, using the bare minimum of instrumentation, he perfectly captures the fear and pleasure of extreme loneliness.

Acoustic guitar is the dominant sound, but this is something stranger than folk. Vernon sings in a lovelorn falsetto that he puts on top in layers, harmonising with himself being his only option out there. He becomes a ghostly choir on Lump Sum, other sounds flickering in the corners of your perception. The Wolves (Act I And II) features almost nothing but his high, heartbroken vocals, almost a gospel spiritual. If you don't have a shack of your own, put it on at 3am with the lights off and feel the icicle silence between the notes.

Of course, even for such a handmade record to succeed today, the internet has to get involved somewhere. The Pitchfork Effect, whereby a favourable review at indier-than-thou website pitch-forkmedia.com can make stars of even the most obscure bands, began a buzz which caused the immediate snapping up of the 500 copies of For Emma — initially pressed late last year.

Now ever-increasing crowds are clam-ouring to see him and there are several opportunities in London in the coming weeks. Just stay respectfully quiet so that we don't scare this precious talent back to his natural habitat.

Bon Iver is at The Social (020 7473 0620) on 19 May; the Scala (020 7833 2022) with Jens Lekman on 20 May and St Giles in the Fields (08712 200 260) on 4 June.

SPARKS WILL FLY

Next Friday, London's live scene will witness a feat of musical endurance to rival swimming the Channel or that man in a diving suit walking the marathon in slow motion. Post-modern pop brothers Sparks will begin an epic stint at the Islington Academy, performing every track from each of their 21 albums, one a night over a month with the odd day off.

It's the same number of shows Prince played at the O2 but with different songs every time. Ron and Russell Mael deserve the highest praise, not only for relearning roughly 250 tracks (and 4,825,273 notes, they claim, as if they've had time in their hectic rehearsal schedule to count) but for having the dedication, longevity and creativity to make 21 albums in the first place.

Who else has the giant back catalogue to undertake such a challenge? More importantly, who among them would be brave and foolish enough to try? As Ron hits 60 and Russell gets close, the brothers will be playing many tracks they can barely remember writing, some for the first time.

It's the kind of crazy stunt that might be expected of a duo who have sometimes strayed pretty close to novelty status as well as influencing everyone from Morrissey to the Pet Shop Boys. Giving the same prominence to all their albums, from 1974 classic Kimono My House to 2000's forgettable Balls, shows, well, balls. If they fail to replicate perfectly every single track, they will be borne through by the sense of humour that has allowed Ron to sport pop's most ludicrous and sinister moustache for nearly 40 years.

This might even qualify as the world's most elaborate album launch, for the challenge culminates in a bigger gig at which the pair will play this month's new one, Exotic Creatures of the Deep. It's another set of silly, tuneful synthpop that will make for a worthy climax to one of music's greatest stunts.

Islington Academy, 16 May-11 June; Shepherds Bush Empire, 13 June. Golden ticket to all 21 shows, £350. Tel: 0844 477 2000.

NEW ON THE NET

The Cure obviously don't need luck in the run-up to the release of their 13th album on 13 September. Before then the indie gods are putting out a single on the 13th of each month, starting with The Only One in download stores on Tuesday. No doubt they'll be walking under a few ladders in the meantime too.

Californian punk band The Offspring preview their forthcoming eighth album with the now traditional free download. Pick up their comeback, Hammerhead, from www.theoffspring.com — provided you hand over your email address.

Teenage Brooklyn rapper Lil' Mama's hip-hop with stabilisers has gone down well in the US. She launches her swear-free album Voice of the Young People here at the end of the month, but the impatient can find it in download stores now.

 

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