After five years of anticipation, the wait for a new album from Bon Iver is finally over with the release of “22, A Million.” When the album was released on Sept. 30th, an entirely new aesthetic was introduced to listeners, with Bon Iver straying from the typical “folksy” sound of previous albums. Bon Iver, alias for Justin Vernon, created a whole new techno-inspired sound for his return to the music world.

From the opening song “22 (OVER S∞∞N),” it is evident that Bon Iver is distancing himself from the acoustic and folk sound that we all know him by.  A very calm introduction to the album, it is difficult to be drawn in with this song.

Sophomore Gray DuPerier thought differently about this opening track.

“’22 (OVER S∞∞N)’ was probably my favorite,” DuPerier said.”  “It’s typical Bon Iver and I love it. I really like how he titled the songs on this album and made it something different that he hasn’t done in the past.  It makes it really interesting and weird, which I like.”

Following this song is a more beat-heavy song, with a constant rhythm that gets listeners’ blood pumping. Although “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄” is slow, it manages to keep listeners alert with its strange melody. Including many synths and multiplication of Vernon’s voice, this song is an interesting one for Vernon.

Venturing back to the well-known sound of past Bon Iver productions, Vernon clears listeners’ minds with a calming synth-heavy song, ’33 “GOD,”’ and continues this trend through the rest of the album.

Vernon returns to the pace of the original acoustic sound of Bon Iver with “29 #Strafford APTS.”

Experimenting with techno aspects, Vernon brings in a new sound to the album. “21 M♢♢N WATER”  is an interesting track amidst the rest of the album.

“’21 M♢♢N WATER’ is my favorite,” sophomore Maggie Livingston said. “This new album feels more put together than his past albums, as if he’s put a theme to his music. It has a folky vibe with little explosions of other genres mixed in, and sounds like he’s a lot more confident in his music.”

Vernon continued the relaxed sound through the final tracks of the album, finishing with possibly the smoothest song of the album, “00000 Million.” It is a placid piano ballad, and contains no edits to Vernon’s voice. This song has to take first place as my favorite. Listeners can hear the ache in the sound of the track, and it closes out the album in a very solemn, but nice, way.