Riffiter’s review of the albumFor Emma, Forever Ago

For Emma, Forever Ago sounds like a man talking to himself in a cold room. Justin Vernon stacked his own falsetto into a choir because there was nobody else in the cabin to sing with, and he left the cracks in. Skinny Love gets the attention, all hard strums and a voice close to breaking on every line. The record is better when it slows down: Re: Stacks closes it with a guitar and a confession, and it's the best thing here. He recorded these as demos he planned to redo, and he was right not to. A lot of the lyrics are picked for the vowel more than the meaning, so don't go looking for a plot. The mood carries it anyway.