Before there was Bon Iver (and Volcano Choir), there was Justin Vernon – the solo artist. Not that Bon Iver isn’t as good as a solo vehicle for Vernon, but I only discovered last week that he had actually produced an album of his own, Hazeltons, before he infamously locked himself in a cabin for three months and wrote For Emma.

His solo effort isn’t a million miles away from Bon Iver’s stuff, but it’s a lot simpler, with most tracks comprising mainly acoustic guitar and Vernon’s voice.

Perhaps the strangest part of the whole thing is that he sings with a bit more of an accent, there’s a bit more grit in his voice than there is in Bon Iver’s falsetto-laced tracks. That said, any Bon Iver fans may actually prefer this to their divisive autotune-y Blood Bank EP.

Apparently only 100 copies were made of this album, “in long paper sleeves with various nature photos”. Guess we missed that boat. It is available online unofficially, but to tell you how to get it would be completely wrong and possibly illegal.

Check out the title track from the album, Hazelton, below.

Hazelton – Justin Vernon (download)

[MP3 courtesy of PeerValidated]
[Image: PopSecret]