Love Letter To A Record: Jo Davie On Bon Iver's '22, A Million'

Music Feeds’ Love Letter to a Record series asks artists to reflect on their relationship with the music they love and share stories about how it has influenced their lives. Here, Brisbane singer-songwriter Jo Davie has offered up an ode to Bon Iver‘s third studio album, 2016’s 22, A Million.

The letter arrives on release day for Davie’s debut solo EP, Nothing Comes Free, which is out now independently. Davie recorded the EP with producer Sam Cromack, best known as the frontman of recent chart-toppers Ball Park Music, in the downtime away from her longtime gig as live guitarist for Asha Jefferies. The EP, alongside Davie’s letter, can be found below.

Jo Davie – Nothing Comes Free

Dear 22, A Million,

How I love you! But where do I begin?

My first experience with Bon Iver was Birdy’s cover of ‘Skinny Love’ in 2011. More specifically, a cover of that cover, performed by a girl at my high school for a school lunchtime concert. I was awestruck, and this moment slowly led me to you.

I feel as though I can’t explain how much you mean to me, without first unfurling the impact of your predecessors. Before you, came Bon Iver, Bon Iver, and before that, For Emma, Forever Ago. For Emma contains the fated original version of ‘Skinny Love’, that I proceeded to listen to again and again and again. I heard that this album was recorded solo in a remote log cabin, full of sickness and sadness, and yet you found beauty. ‘Re: Stacks’ is one of my (and I’m sure many others’) favourites. It is patient and does not hurry you along; instead, it simply invites you to sit down and feel. I remember learning how to play it, and going on to write many songs in that guitar tuning – one is even on the EP!

The self-titled album, Bon Iver, Bon Iver, was next, and the way in which the sonic world expanded blew my mind. I walked down the aisle at my wedding to ‘Holocene’, and I will never get tired of listening to that song. I often find it hard to understand the lyrics being sung on this album, and yet somehow it doesn’t matter; they still resonate completely. It’s like I make up my own stories based on the depth of feeling, the music is just that good.

Bon Iver – ’22 (OVER S∞∞N)’

But it is you, 22, A Million, that I think I love most, for you are a departure, unexpected, and oh so different to anything I had ever heard and loved before. Your first track, ’22 (OVER S∞∞N)’, feels like floating. The way that it builds as the vocal samples create harmony, rhythm and melody, then the guitar entry, then the saxophone solo… you know just what to do. ‘715 – CRΣΣKS’ gives me chills every time. Everything is so deliberate; there’s so much emotion, regret and hope, translated without a single instrument, just the power of the human voice in its imperfect beauty. And what about the delicacy with which the songs transition from ‘666 ʇ’ into ’21 M♢♢N WATER’ into ‘8 (circle)’ – that was diabolically clever.

The first time I listened to you, and every time since, I have wondered how you were made. How could the vocal sound like that? How could that guitar be so shiny yet mellow? How could that sample dissolve into the distance the way it does? It’s like you artfully created this intricate collage just for me, to spot something new each time. You made me want to experiment; to try something new and scary.

This roundabout journey eventually led me to my PhD project, which is about self-production for the female singer-songwriter. You were my inspiration to start asking questions, and start learning how to record sounds myself to create a world like you did. Inch by inch, that led me here to my debut EP Nothing Comes Free, which comes out today. I even snuck a vocoder song on there, just for you (track four, ‘Say The Word’).

You showed me how to grow, expand and contain multitudes, so thank you.

Love, Jo x

Catch Jo Davie on tour in support of the EP throughout May; all details below.