Bon Iver new album: Justin Vernon confirms he has 'definitely been working on new music'

They may or may not premiere new material at the Eaux Claires festival in Wisconsin

Singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, founder of Bon Iver (Getty Images)

New Bon Iver music is finally on the horizon after songwriter Justin Vernon confirmed that the band were no longer “winding down”.

The indie folk group last released an album, Bon Iver, in 2011 but frontman Vernon, who memorably gave one of the best performances ever seen on Jools Holland, told The Current in 2012 that he felt the need to “walk away” from Bon Iver while he “still cared about it”.

“We’re winding it down,” he said. “I look at it like a faucet. I have to turn it off and walk away from it because so much of how that music comes together is subconscious or discovering.

“There’s so much attention on the band, it can be distracting at times. I really feel the need to walk away from it while I still care about it. Then if I come back to it - if at all - I’ll feel better about it and be renewed or something to do that.”

Luckily for patient fans, Bon Iver’s plans have changed, with Vernon telling Billboard that it’s “never died or anything”.

“I’m not exactly sure where I am with it,” he said. “I’ve been winding down for a number of years for numerous reasons. For exhaustion, exposure. It’s never died or anything to me. It’s one of those things that needs to be protected in my own spirit.”

Vernon will soon be teaming up with James Blake for a live performance under the name Fall Creek Boys Choir and recently announced that Bon Iver will play their own Eaux Claires festival in Wisconsin, where he wrote 2007’s hugely acclaimed debut, For Emma, Forever Ago in a remote log cabin.

“I’ve been working on music, you know, man,” he continued. “It takes a long time and I’m not sure exactly what it is or what it means to me and until that happens I won’t really know exactly what sharing it will look like or feel like or when.

“There’s sort of this internal pressure, not from anybody but myself, to come out with new music for the festival. But I’m not going to make myself do anything. I really have to take it step by step and have patience and know that the music, if it comes out, it’s gotta be really true, it’s gotta really live with the other records and extend from them and be reborn and all that.

“There’s a lot that goes into it. I’ve definitely been working on music.”