Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon has said he “can’t really kick it with” Kanye West anymore in a new interview.
The two musicians have collaborated together in the past, with Vernon featuring on West’s albums ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ and ‘Yeezus’. The rapper, meanwhile, spent a week at Vernon’s Wisconsin studio while working on ‘The Life Of Pablo’ in 2014.
Speaking to Pitchfork, the Bon Iver star said the two had since grown apart due to their differing political views. While West has been outspoken in his support for Trump, Vernon is a fan of Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
“I can’t really kick it with him anymore on a personal level, just the energy,” Vernon said. “But I’ve got mad love for him and we’re still friends.”
Bon Iver’s fourth album ‘i, i’ was released last week (August 9). In a five-star review, NME said: “All three previous albums come to heads on album closer ‘RABi’, with a slinky saxophone here and Americana-flecked guitar there. It’s the perfect summation of ‘i, i’ in its entirety, with contradictory instrumental lines gorgeously meshing together, turning the older sounds into something fresh and new. But it also feels bittersweet. With ‘i, i’ marking the end of the album cycle, the possibility of any future Bon Iver music is uncertain.”
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, Vernon discussed his experiences with anxiety and how it forced him to cancel a tour in support of 2016’s ‘22, A Million’ album. “I’ve never had that before, [I] never quite understood what it could do to people,” he said. “It really got me. I was stunned by it. Usually I have my stuff together.”
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“That’s sort of the story [of the record] for me…” he expanded, saying that ‘i,i’ is about getting through some tough times and getting to a point where you can feel vulnerable and grateful. It’s a big clearing, personally and artistically.”