By OLVIA OLSON

Contributing Reporter

Indie folk singer Bon Iver’s debut album “For Emma, Forever Ago” is, at times, very sad — heart-wrenchingly, mind-blowingly, tear-jerkingly sad. The kind of sad that makes sunshine seem ironic and pop music seem like a creepy carnival song in comparison. 

This kind of sad doesn’t always make for a successful album. 

The dark and maudlin can quickly become overbearing and oppressive, and pessimism and self-pity have long ceased to be original themes.  

But “For Emma,” in this way and many others, defies such expectations. The music is calm but not complacent, which allows the album to mark the difference between sorrow and depression. 

The life of the album can be partially attributed to Bon Iver, the stage name of Justin Vernon, and his unusual production decisions. Vernon chose to create the album one winter while living in Kerouacian solitude at his father’s secluded Wisconsin cabin. As is so often the case with music made under restricted circumstances, the artist’s resourcefulness was employed to create wholly original compositions. 

The lyrics are largely incomprehensible. But, like any well-played instrument, Vernon’s thin yet soulful falsetto speaks fluently the language of emotion in music and needs no translation to make its message known. 

“The Wolves (Act I & II)” is a hushed and dynamic track that reveals best the amount of control Vernon wields over his compositions. Never rushed or over- done, the quiet harmonies cut through the air like flakes of snow. 

The unusual vocals are paired with the warmer and well-known strumming of the acoustic guitar, encouraging each other into an impressive crescendo that mimics the sounds of war, battling against the onset of regret while repeating the phrase, 

“What might’ve been lost don’t bother me.” 

The more mellow “Re: Stacks” never becomes dull due to its unpredictability. The narrative lyrics are delivered with remarkable stoicism; even the line, “You’re drunk as hell” is granted some kind of poetic dignity when delivered in Vernon’s quiet croon. 

Bon Iver mixes the strange and the familiar to create experimental music that is never atonal or displeasing, but perfectly listenable and downright beautiful. Whoever Emma is, she should be proud to have inspired such a worthy ode.