First released in 2007 · Album: For Emma, Forever Ago
About the song
Bon Iver first released “Skinny Love” on the original 2007 self-issued edition of For Emma, Forever Ago, before the album’s 2008 label release. Justin Vernon’s vocal and acoustic-guitar playing give the recording its immediately exposed character.
Sound and arrangement
The guitar has a dry, percussive attack, while the singing moves between fragile phrases and more forceful peaks. Additional vocal texture broadens the sound without removing the sense of a highly personal performance.
Listening closely
Listen to how the instrumental rhythm continues beneath the changes in vocal intensity. The contrast between that firm pattern and the voice’s strain supplies much of the recording’s emotional movement.
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