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Justin Vernon, singer and mastermind from Bon Iver, gave details of Taylor Swift’s folk albums in an interview in which he was involved. Her songs probably came from Demos for Big Red Machine.
Swift initially only heard the demos in an Instagram livestream
In 2020, the two albums Folklore and Evermore from Taylor Swift appeared, on which songs from the collaboration with Aaron Dessner and collaborations are published with Bon IVer. In a conversation with Zane Lowe, Justin Vernon now revealed that the origins of these shared tracks come from demos, which were once planned for a project with Big Red Machine. Under this name, Vernon and Dessner have been publishing music since 2018.
During the pandemic, Dessner played song sketches in an Instagram livestream that he actually wanted to play on a tour with Bon Iver. “I think we just had to share them. And Taylor heard it,” said Vernon. He continued: “Again, Taylor deserves all the honor for hearing the music she wants to make as a songwriter. But these songs are demos of Big Red Machine.”
Then, as he calls it, one was created. “Her genius worked with the genius of Aaron Dessner to create the strongest texts and the strongest songwriting that she ever had. And during this process I just watched how it happened. And for me it was as if Taylor was going to enter our whole universe. Of course there is no one who is bigger, and we all bowed to her,” said the 43-year-old.
This also created two feature songs
After all, Taylor Swift probably had the idea of a Bon-Iver feature. According to Vernon, Dessner, Joe Alwyn and Swift had already written the songs “Exile” and “Evermore” and “added a few small parts”. The musician described the collaboration as very positive: “I think it is an extraordinary song and an exceptionally popular song for good reason. But it just felt so natural and I am so grateful for this opportunity to have worked with such a amazing artist.”
On April 11, Justin Vernon published the new album Sable, Fable with Bon Iver. In the musician’s first record for six years, he has told, among other things, about lost love and the hope and healing that followed.