In one of the more unlikely pairings of recent years; Justin Vernon, AKA shy and retiring backwoods troubador Bon Iver, has teamed up with show off and awards ceremony serial pest Kanye West to record songs which may be set to appear on West’s new album, due on the 15th of November. Leaving the cold Wisconsin woods behind, Vernon headed to West’s studio in Hawaii, where he recorded vocals on “at least ten songs” with the rapper/producer/egomaniac; including one which samples the Bon Iver track ‘Woods’.
“That whole first week I was there we worked on the ‘Woods’ song, which is called ‘Lost In The World’,” Vernon explaines. “We were just eating breakfast and listening to the song on the speakers and he’s like, ‘Fuck, this is going to be the festival closer’, I was like, ‘Yeah, cool’. It kind of freaked me out.” Vernon spent three separate weeks in the studio, after the recordings were interrupted several times by West saying; ”I’m really happy for you, Imma let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time. Imma get her on the album too!”
“It was the same kind of thing, throwing ideas around,” the man behind Bon Iver explained. “There are a bunch of other songs I’d just throw down on, write a little hook, whatever. In the studio, he was referencing Trent Reznor, Al Green, The Roots, the fucking awesomest shit. It made total sense to me.” Vernon explained his astonishment at the sessions: “I was literally in the back room rolling a spliff with Rick Ross talking about what to do on the next part of a song. It was astonishing. Kanye came back and was like, ‘Look at you two guys. This is the craziest studio in the Western world right now!'”.
