Bon Iver is back with its first new recorded music in three years. The band this morning dropped two new songs with lyric videos. The first, "Hey, Ma," is a glittering remembrance of childhood and a mother's love. "Tall time to call your ma," sings Justin Vernon over faded home videos of his family. "I was tokin' on dope / I hoped it all won't go in a minute / With the past that you know."
The second track, "U (Man Like)," is a piano-driven, gospel-inspired ballad. Bruce Hornsby provides the piano tracks, with Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, Moses Sumney and Elsa Jensen on backing vocals. The track also features the Brooklyn Youth Chorus with The National's Bryce Desner.
"This project began with a single person," says Justin Vernon in a press release announcing the songs. "But throughout the last 11 years, the identity of Bon Iver has bloomed and can only be defined by the faces in the ever growing family we are."
Bon Iver also announced a new tour today, with opening sets from Sharon Van Etten, Indigo Girls, Feist and Yo La Tengo.
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