Music reviews: Bon Iver, Valerie June, and The Waterboys

'Sable, Fable' by Bon Iver

Justin Vernon, at 43, is "ready to walk into the light," said Leah Lu in Rolling Stone. Ever since the Eau Claire, Wis., native debuted under the alias Bon Iver with 2007's acclaimed For Emma, Forever Ago, all of his albums until now "captured him in the throes of spiritual crisis." But Sable, Fable, which adds nine songs to the three he released on an EP in October, finds him "at his most hopeful and open." On the new tracks, he often still employs his "signature lilting falsetto." But he's leaning into "more triumphant, anthemic pop melodies," and those melodies ride atop "propulsive percussion and a whole lot of pedal steel."

As usual, Vernon is stretching his sound, said Stephen Thompson in NPR.org. But while Sable, Fable "revels in fresh comforts," it does so "without sacrificing the ache that animated his early work." Eighteen years after Vernon famously retreated to a cabin to record a suite of songs about heartbreak, he "seems liberated and at peace, free to bask in the warm glow of a less burdened version of himself" while still not forgetting the hardships that brought him to this moment.

'Owls, Omens, and Oracles' by Valerie June

As bleak news abounds, Valerie June's sixth album arrives as "a necessary reminder that happiness is just as potent a tool for beating back the darkness as anger," said Andy Crump in Paste. The 43-year-old Tennessee native is still blending elements of roots rock, Americana, and soul, but she's more insistently exhorting listeners to fight despair by connecting in small ways with others. The opener, "Joy, Joy!" sets the tone with a "funk-forward downbeat," blasts of horns and fuzzed-out guitars, and a vocal melody that's "like the cheeriest roller coaster you've ever been on."

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Taken whole, Owls, Omens, and Oracles is "a textured, grungy-sounding album, full of melody, soul, and inspired songwriting," said Timothy Monger in AllMusic. Despite its genre hopping, this M. Ward–produced collection is also "June's most overtly pop record," with her idiosyncratic voice delivering memorable hooks on tracks that rarely top three and a half minutes. Though the tempos slow in the second half of the record, "its quality persists." The closer, "Love and Let Go," is a "gorgeous, slow-burning testament to patience and surrender."

'Life, Death, and Dennis Hopper' by The Waterboys

"You've never heard a Waterboys album like this before," said Bill Pearis in Brooklyn Vegan. On the group's "most unusual" release yet, the Scottish-British-Irish band best known for Celtic-tinged 1980s rock anthems pays a mercurial tribute to mercurial actor Dennis Hopper. As frontman Mike Scott and his current collaborators trace Hopper's life from a Midwest childhood to his Hollywood friendship with James Dean to Easy Rider and beyond, the music of each song matches the relevant era, touching on genres from country to cabaret.

Scott has long countered his image as a solemn seeker with a streak of humor, and here he "runs riot with it," said Tom Doyle in Mojo. "Kansas," the opener, "throws the first curveball," with Steve Earle singing about Hopper pining to leave home. Then we get "retro futuristic bossa nova" in "Andy (A Guy Like You)" and "distinct Buffalo Springfield vibes" with "The Tourist." Not all of it works, particularly the grinding "Frank," with its howled repetition of a vulgar Blue Velvet catchphrase. Overall, though, the record's a blast, and the band plays fast and loose, just as Hopper would.