The Singles Jukebox

Also ft., Suicide Squad-style, Kanye West, Rostam Batmanglij, Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Ariel Rechtshaid…

[Video][Website]
[4.75]

Hannah Jocelyn: BJ Burton, Justin Vernon’s right-hand man, has become an underrated producer, sort of like a 2010s version of Peter Katis but more diverse. The one thing all his projects, from Lizzo to the Staves, have in common is that they sound fantastic. So Burton helping Francis create his own version of “Mirrors” is a great idea — making a version of “Mirrors” with that list of people, from Ariel Reichstad to Cashmere Cat, is an even better one. “Friends” nearly lives up to the initial promise until the part where Francis exclaims “I’m Fraaaancis/Still dreaming of our glory”, which is reminiscent of those weird “He’s a legend/I’m a legend” lyrics from Vernon side project Volcano Choir’s “Byegone.” The song’s still great, though the glut of collaborators is apparent throughout.
[7]

William John: It seems lazy to talk about a song solely through other musical reference points, but I feel a bit helpless discussing this without referring to “Summer Friends“, a highlight of Chance The Rapper’s most recent mixtape, and “I Need A Forest Fire“, a single from James Blake’s latest album featuring Bon Iver. If you’ve heard neither “Summer Friends” nor this, then skip “Friends” and head straight to Coloring Book, where Chance and Jeremih manage to extract something illuminating and life-affirming from Francis & The Lights’ watery mess. I am occasionally partial to beardo puddle music (usually while expressing inward disgust), but where “I Need A Forest Fire” moves at a pleasant lilt, emphasising lucidity over texture and unfurling like a gradually blooming flower, “Friends” excessively layers Bon Iver’s vocal. The result is something chaotic and disorganised when the aim was clearly “quietly triumphant.” Kanye appears in the video without explanation; maybe a verse from him would have galvanised proceedings, though in 2016 chaos seems to be his modus operandi.
[2]

Alfred Soto: I suppose the absorption of Bon Iver into Kanye West’s music as a signifier of loss and male desire has poetic justice. Bon Iver’s indifference to consonants allows him to reach pure sound, stripped of angst and struggle; it’s loss and male desire without pain or friction. Combine these phenomena with the Trevor Horn-wannabe sweep of the synth strings and the result is rather moist, free-floating kitsch.
[4]

Katie Gill: I’m still baffled as to how Bon Iver went from indie music’s newest darling to indie music’s commercially acceptable darling. That being said, it’s a good thing this song’s an atmospheric piece of interesting synthwork because it’s lyrically nothing to write home about. The practically wordless chorus where the synths build on top of each other is easily the highlight.
[6]

Cassy Gress: Can’t say I’m much of a Bon Iver fan, but I think he’s got a much better voice for the autotuned falsetto shtick than Francis Starlite. Francis sings every vowel as if his mouth is making an “eee” shape, stumbling through the rhythmic flow of his verses while Kanye inserts a single tom smash as if to wake the listener up. Bon Iver, in comparison, has a much warmer tone to his voice; he rolled in toward the end and I thought, “Oh, thank you.”
[4]

Katherine St Asaph: You know that scrunched-up, half pouty face? The one Ted Cruz makes all the time? This is the vocal version of that. Also of faux-deep bro tears, or the shared-frat-iTunes version of that Suicide Squad song, or of trajectory-less James Blakean bedroom noodling hell, or explicable-enough yet still unfortunate Kanye West brand dilution.
[2]

Brad Shoup: The Brahshank Redemption. The event brorizon. Bon and Francis fall in love across the highway: the sun is high, but their inner lights repel all glare. The things they say! It shouldn’t be so surprising to hear this desire, this comfort. But it is. The Kanye co-sign was the smallest gesture he could make while coming out unscathed, and it’s still something. God, I just want to listen to some Zapp and cry.
[8]

Ryo Miyauchi: What’s the end goal of this song besides showing that, yes, Justin Vernon does sound nice with Auto-Tune? His voice paired with the glittered-in-gold orchestra and swelling chorus is a pretty landscape portrait at best: take in the sights and the size as a palate cleanser, and move on to something else.
[5]