SABLE, fABLE by Bon Iver

Bon Iver SABLE, fABLE

80
ChoruScore
19 reviews
Apr 11, 2025
Release Date
Jagjaguwar
Label

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE opens like an exhale, moving from hushed introspection into sunlit, groove-forward surrender and answering the question of whether the record succeeds with persuasive force. Across 19 professional reviews the critical consensus lands at an 80.32/100, and critics consistently point to a handful of standout songs that map the album's emotional arc: “Everything Is Peaceful Love”, “There’s A Rhythmn” and “S P E Y S I D E” recur as highlights while “Short Story”, “From” and “Walk Home” are frequently named among the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE.

Reviewers praise the record's sonic cohesion even as it spans folk intimacy, psychedelic R&B and pop-soul flourishes. Critics note a clear narrative movement - contraction to release, hibernation to reunion - rendered through warm production, horn swells and falsetto that feels both vulnerable and celebratory. Several reviews celebrate the brightening production and genre hybridity: the album's second half earns praise for its neo-soul and Motown-tinged textures while the Sable segment preserves the spare songwriting craft that first defined Vernon. Professional reviews emphasize that the best songs on SABLE, fABLE are those that convert private reckoning into communal joy, with “Everything Is Peaceful Love” singled out as an irresistible, hooky pivot and “There’s A Rhythmn” as a slow-burning emotional closer.

Not all critics agree completely - some flag occasional disjointedness or overly ornate production - but the prevailing view frames the record as a mature, healing statement and a worthy entry in Bon Iver's catalog. For readers asking "is SABLE, fABLE good" or searching for a SABLE, fABLE review, the consensus suggests a largely successful reinvention that rewards repeated listens and highlights a suite of songs that function as the album's emotional heart.

Critics' Top Tracks

The standout songs that made critics take notice

1

Sable (opening segment)

1 mention

"The opening, quieter "Sable" segment -- which was released as an EP last fall -- is atmospheric, moody, largely acoustic"
Variety
2

Everything Is Peaceful Love

16 mentions

"Short Story bridges to the gospel grandeur of ‘Everything Is Peaceful Love’"
DIY Magazine
3

There's A Rhythmn

15 mentions

"the soulful "There’s a Rhythmn""
Variety
The opening, quieter "Sable" segment -- which was released as an EP last fall -- is atmospheric, moody, largely acoustic
V
Variety
about "Sable (opening segment)"
Read full review
1 mention
85% sentiment

Track Ratings

How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.

View:
1

...

6 mentions
00:12
2

THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS

12 mentions
76
03:20
3

S P E Y S I D E

15 mentions
95
03:29
4

AWARDS SEASON

14 mentions
96
05:16
5

Short Story

16 mentions
100
01:56
6

Everything Is Peaceful Love

16 mentions
100
03:30
7

Walk Home

15 mentions
95
03:46
8

Day One

14 mentions
100
03:33
9

From

16 mentions
100
03:02
10

I'll Be There

13 mentions
89
02:54
11

If Only I Could Wait

14 mentions
100
03:22
12

There's A Rhythmn

15 mentions
100
05:16
13

Au Revoir

14 mentions
68
02:01

What Critics Are Saying

Deep insights from 22 critics who reviewed this album

80

Critic's Take

Bon Iver balances nostalgia and reinvention across SABLE, fABLE, and the best tracks show that tug: “S P E Y S I D E” recalls the lean intimacy fans wanted while “Walk Home” and “I'll Be There” push him into soulful, big-voiced territory. Kyle Mullin writes with affectionate scrutiny, praising the climactic horns of “Awards Season” and the ecstatic, speaking-in-tongues payoff of “I'll Be There”. The album's highlights - notably “S P E Y S I D E”, “Walk Home” and “From” - crystallize why the record feels both comforting and daring, and they answer the question of the best songs on SABLE, fABLE with palpable warmth and occasional astonishment.

Key Points

  • The best song(s), notably "S P E Y S I D E" and "Walk Home", balance intimacy with bold sonic shifts that define the album's appeal.
  • SABLE, fABLE's strengths are its emotional range, soulful vintage pop touches, and surprising melodicism amid experimental tendencies.

Themes

return to folk elements R&B and soul influences sonic range and experimentation melodic accessibility vs. ambition collaboration
90

Critic's Take

Laura Barton writes in measured, elegiac sentences that foreground the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE, arguing that the album’s strengths reside in its craft and emotional arc. She singles out “S P E Y S I D E” as an "astonishing piece of songwriting" and frames “There’s A Rhythm” as the record’s "slow-burn stand-out", making them the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE. Barton’s prose moves from contextual history to close listening, noting how the album moves from contraction to release - which helps explain why listeners seeking the best songs on SABLE, fABLE are drawn to “S P E Y S I D E” and “There’s A Rhythm”. The result is an account that privileges texture, narrative closure and emotional clarity as measures of what makes the best tracks resonate.

Key Points

  • The best song is a slow-burn stand-out that offers emotional closure and echoes Bon Iver’s early healing motifs.
  • The album’s core strengths are its textural variety, narrative continuity and emotional directness.

Themes

narrative and storytelling introspection vs release texture and variety healing and process collaboration

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE reads like a sunrise after a long storm, and the review makes it clear which are the best songs on SABLE, fABLE. The writer singles out “There’s a Rhythmn” as the best song from this new era - "beautifully simple and achingly lovely" - while praising groove-forward highlights like “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and “Day One” for their sunlit, neo-soul warmth. Vernon’s loosened, unguarded voice and the album’s soft-rock and R&B sensibilities are cited as the reasons these tracks stand out. The reviewer frames the record as a personal triumph that will answer searches for the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE with a clear, affectionate hand.

Key Points

  • “There’s a Rhythmn” is the standout because it is called "the best song" and praised as "beautifully simple and achingly lovely".
  • The album’s core strengths are its loosened intimacy, sunny R&B-inflected grooves, and Vernon’s more direct, open-hearted songwriting.

Themes

regeneration intimacy psychedelic R&B sunshine and peace moving away from isolation

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE finds its best songs in moments of open-hearted clarity, particularly “Short Story” and the album-closing “There’s A Rhythmn”. The reviewer leans into Vernon’s transportative soundscapes while praising how “Short Story” cracks the old For Emma illusion and how “There’s A Rhythmn” spells out his journey with affecting clarity. There is a warm, unpretentious shift across the record - the corny, sensual lines on “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and “Walk Home” feel like relief rather than regression. If you want to know the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE, start with “Short Story” and close with “There’s A Rhythmn” for the album's emotional core.

Key Points

  • “There’s A Rhythmn” is the best track because it crystallizes Vernon's personal and artistic journey with affecting clarity.
  • The album’s core strengths are its transportative soundscapes, unpretentious lyricism, and a newfound sense of community.

Themes

recovery light vs darkness intimacy community transition
Sputnikmusic logo

Sputnikmusic

Unknown
Apr 14, 2025
70

Critic's Take

In a register that alternates between rueful observation and clear admiration, Bon Iver’s SABLE, fABLE finds its best tracks in those unafraid to integrate timelines - notably “AWARDS SEASON” and the jaunty pair “Day One” and “From”. The reviewer's voice prizes songs that evolve rather than recede, praising “AWARDS SEASON” for its sax crescendo and minimalist strategy while lamenting the frozen arrangements on “S P E Y S I D E” and “Walk Home”. Readers asking for the best songs on SABLE, fABLE will find the strongest evidence in the album's cross-temporal tracks, where Vernon’s acceptance and restless curiosity actually pay off. This collection is at its most captivating when it accepts volatility and moves forward, rather than attempting to reassemble the past.

Key Points

  • “AWARDS SEASON” is best because its minimalist strategy, electronic-tinged sax and bittersweet gratitude achieve evolution and emotional clarity.
  • The album’s core strengths are integration across timelines and willingness to accept transience, producing its most captivating moments when Vernon moves forward.

Themes

transience acceptance time integration nostalgia

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE centers its best moments around songs like “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and “There’s A Rhythmn”, which turn Vernon's pared-back palette into vivid feeling. The reviewer's voice revels in how the album moves from the suggestive opener “THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS” into the technicolor bloom of disc two, noting that “Everything Is Peaceful Love” yields one of Bon Iver's most irresistible earworms. In the same cadence the critic praises the gospel lift of “I’ll Be There” and the communal thrill of “Day One”, arguing these tracks showcase Vernon loosening up into warmth and hope. Ultimately the piece frames the record as a necessary, healing statement rather than a radical reinvention, making it clear which tracks listeners should seek out first.

Key Points

  • The best song, "Everything Is Peaceful Love", is the highlight because its ascending vocals deliver one of Bon Iver's most irresistible earworms and pure joy.
  • The album's core strengths are its stripped-down clarity, blend of genres, and a warm, hopeful emotional resolution uncommon in Vernon's catalog.

Themes

hope and resolution stripped-down production genre blending intimacy vs spectacle

Critic's Take

Patrick Gill hears Bon Iver moving from isolation toward communal joy on SABLE, fABLE, and he elevates certain songs as proof. In particular, “S P E Y S I D E” is called "unmatched" and stands out, while “Everything Is Peaceful Love” crystallizes Vernon reclaiming inner peace. Gill praises the later half - tracks like “From” and “There’s A Rhythmn” - for their soulful, gospel-tinged and horn-enhanced beauty. He admits the production can disorient, but insists repeated listens reveal Vernon’s genius and the album’s emotional payoff.

Key Points

  • “S P E Y S I D E” is the standout, cited as "unmatched" and hinting at a return to form.
  • The album’s core strengths are Vernon’s personal lyricism and inventive production that reward repeated listens.

Themes

transition from darkness to light production evolution (R&B, processed sounds) personal rediscovery and inner peace tension between past folk and ornate arrangements
94

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE feels like two albums stitched into one, and the reviewer relishes that split personality. The quieter opening, the Sable segment, summons the lonely mood of "For Emma, Forever Ago," while the second half surprises with R&B flourishes and Motownesque melodies centered around “If Only I Could Wait”. The duet “If Only I Could Wait” and the pop-leaning “There’s a Rhythmn” are singled out as the album's emotional and melodic summits, exemplifying why listeners ask about the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE. Overall the review praises the record's stylistic breadth and cohesive emotional force, making clear which songs stand tallest without flattening the album's multitudes.

Key Points

  • The duet “If Only I Could Wait” is the album's emotional centerpiece, with an aching performance and gorgeous strings.
  • The album's core strength is its stylistic breadth - from hushed, cabin-born intimacy to Motown-tinged R&B - held together by strong, conflicted emotions.

Themes

hibernation and isolation emergence and transition genre hybridity emotional conflictedness

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE finds its best tracks in the bright, hooky pop of “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and the honeyed tenderness of “From”. The reviewer privileges these songs as the album's clearest pivots toward light and sensual production, noting that “Everything Is Peaceful Love” is "probably the catchiest Bon Iver song to-date" and “From” as "similarly honeyed and hooky". Together they illustrate why listeners asking "best tracks on SABLE, fABLE" will point to these moments as the album's most immediate pleasures, even as darker motifs persist elsewhere.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Everything Is Peaceful Love" because of its clear, catchy hook and bright R&B-leaning production.
  • The album's core strength is its successful reinvention toward lighter, sensual pop while retaining moments of melancholy.

Themes

reinvention moving on light vs darkness sonic warmth and sensuality

Critic's Take

In a warm, occasionally puckish turn, Bon Iver on SABLE, fABLE finds joy in the quotidian, with best songs like “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and “AWARDS SEASON” turning private reckoning into radiantly produced pop. The record sheds the log cabin of anxiety for synth-brightened landscapes, and “Everything Is Peaceful Love” is the clearest triumph, falsetto reaching skywards over slinky drum pads. Early triptych tracks such as “THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS” and “S P E Y S I D E” keep the album grounded in honest self-examination, while mid-album highlights like “Walk Home” and “I’ll Be There” supply sweetly infectious, Eighties-tinged charm. The overall effect is a pleasurable, occasionally moving reinvention that feels like a genuine stylistic swerve rather than contrivance.

Key Points

  • The best song, "Everything Is Peaceful Love", succeeds by marrying falsetto euphoria with slinky electro-acoustic production.
  • The album’s core strength is Vernon’s shift from inward miserablism to brighter, synth-tinged arrangements that still preserve introspective lyricism.

Themes

renewal love grounded in ordinary life brightening production 80s influences

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE feels like a rebirth, the record moving from stripped-back loneliness into sun-soaked funk with unexpected ease. El Hunt highlights the opening trio's exhausted intimacy and singles out “Things Behind Things Behind Things” as capturing that despair, while praising “Walk Home” for its sultry, optimistic Marvin Gaye -styled R&B. The review frames the best tracks as those that balance solitude and reinvention, making the best songs on SABLE, fABLE

Key Points

  • The best song captures the album's emotional honesty by stripping back to lonely, exhausted intimacy.
  • The album's core strength is its shift from sparse isolation to sun-soaked, liberated sounds and inventive pop influences.

Themes

isolation rebirth creative looseness celebrity disillusionment lust/desire

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE finds Justin Vernon shedding old grief and leaning into delight, and the best songs on the album - “Short Story” and “Everything Is Peaceful Love” - make that pivot sound irresistible. The reviewer revels in how “Short Story” blooms into electronic bleeps and triumphant falsetto, and how “Everything Is Peaceful Love” spills giddy, euphoric chorus lines. A quieter highlight, “If Only I Could Wait”, registers as a sleek, melodramatic R&B-pop pause that complicates the album's otherwise unabashed joy. Overall the record reads like a surprise pop-and-soul triumph, songs that celebrate rebirth while still carrying the project's mythic weight.

Key Points

  • “Short Story” is the album's best track because it announces the joyous tonal pivot with blooming production and triumphant falsetto.
  • The album's core strength is Vernon’s reinvention from shadow to unabashed pop and soul, marrying mythic weight to immediate, euphoric songwriting.

Themes

rebirth joy versus shadow pop and soul experimentation identity and fable

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE feels like a reckoning and a celebration, with the best songs - “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and “Walk Home” - showing Vernon at his most generous and lucid. The reviewer's voice lingers on the way these tracks trade his customary ache for a warmer, almost optimistic gaze, and how piano, synth and that falsetto conspire to make late-life love sound newly attainable. There is a through-line from the plaintive foreword of SABLE to the sunnier fABLE, where high points such as “There’s A Rhythm” continue the record's theme of learning from loss. In short, the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE are those that turn experience into tenderness, and Vernon writes them with the assuredness of an artist who finally allows himself to be happy.

Key Points

  • “Everything Is Peaceful Love” is best for transforming a potentially hollow sentiment into substantive, memorable songwriting.
  • The album's core strength is Vernon’s mature songwriting that turns past heartbreak into hopeful, warmly textured songs.

Themes

renewal mature love hope vs. heartbreak songwriting craft warmth amid fragility

Critic's Take

Vibrance radiates through SABLE, fABLE, and Bon Iver leans into unabashed affection with songs like “There’s A Rhythmn” and “From” that glow rather than haunt. The record prefers easy-going, Smokie-tinged warmth — Vernon paddles along love’s coast blind yet winningly, especially on “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and “I’ll Be There”. For listeners asking what the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE are, the album’s loveliest moments are the contemplative “There’s A Rhythmn”, the uplifting “Walk Home” and the soft-rock charm of “From”.

Key Points

  • There’s A Rhythmn is best because it balances waning intensity with contemplative synths and steady vocals.
  • The album’s core strength is its warm, unabashed embrace of simple, upbeat love and collaborative instrumentation.

Themes

love sunshine vs. introversion collaboration simplicity vs. experimentation nostalgia

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE finds Justin Vernon moving from apology to exaltation, and the best songs on SABLE, fABLE prove the point. “S P E Y S I D E” returns him to fragile falsetto and sparse picking, “If Only I Could Wait” stands out for its reconsideration, and “From” is the triumphant choral centrepiece that tells the tale best. The record balances pared-back reflections with soaring, soulful arrangements, making these tracks the album's emotional peaks.

Key Points

  • ‘From’ is best for its rising choral melody and emotional centre that resolves the album's apology-to-redemption arc.
  • The album's core strength is its balance of sparse, apologetic moments with soaring, soulful arrangements showing maturity.

Themes

regret and apology redemption and forgiveness soulful/spiritual delivery contrast between sparse and grand arrangements maturity and reconciliation

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE finds its best songs in moments of direct clarity, and the review makes clear that the best tracks on the album are “Awards Season”, “Day One” and “If Only I Could Wait”. Kelly Murphy writes in a measured, conversational tone about how those songs punctuate the record, serving as sparks of respite amid an otherwise hazy, sometimes disjointed album. The praise is tempered - the reviewer repeatedly notes charming textures and aching nostalgia, but cautions that the album's inconsistencies leave some pieces feeling lost rather than cohesive. Overall, the critic highlights that the standout tracks provide the clearest rewards for listeners searching for the best songs on SABLE, fABLE.

Key Points

  • The best song is best because it demands attention and provides bright moments amid the album's haze.
  • The album’s core strengths are textured arrangements, oscillation between dynamics, and moments of clear emotional payoff.

Themes

pain and hope ambiguity and healing textures and arrangements nostalgia

Critic's Take

Bon Iver’s SABLE, fABLE feels like a triumphant homecoming, and the review makes clear which are the best songs on SABLE, fABLE - namely “S P E Y S I D E”, “Everything Is Peaceful Love”, and “Walk Home”. The writer praises “S P E Y S I D E” as infectious and touching, calling it a highlight that justified fan anticipation. “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and “Walk Home” are singled out as nimble and snowy singles that find new context within the album. Overall the tone celebrates Vernon’s joyful, finely tuned pop sensibility while noting the record’s heart and cohesion.

Key Points

  • The best song is “S P E Y S I D E” because it is called infectious, touching, and justified fan anticipation.
  • The album’s core strengths are its cohesive blend of folk and pop, strong melodies, and emotional, confident vocals.

Themes

return homecoming blend of folk and pop vulnerability sonic cohesion

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE feels like a longtime bandmate stepping into sunlight - the best songs radiate communal joy rather than solitary introspection. The review points readers toward “There's A Rhythm”, “THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS” and “From” as listen-to highlights, praising warm collaboration, forthright lyricism and a Cheshire Cat grin that runs through the record. Vernon leans into yacht-rock funk on “Everything Is Peaceful Love” and luxuriant sax on “AWARDS SEASON”, but it is the reflective pedal steel and catchy atmospheres that make these tracks the album's best. The tone is celebratory yet measured, arguing that these are the best tracks on SABLE, fABLE because they marry Bon Iver's past textures with newfound openness.

Key Points

  • The best song work combines reflective instrumentation with open, collaborative songwriting, epitomized by "There's a Rhythm".
  • The album's core strengths are joyful collaboration, warm nostalgia without stagnation, and forthright lyricism.

Themes

collaboration joyful exuberance nostalgia tempered hopefulness

Critic's Take

Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE finds Justin Vernon stepping out of the long night and into a cautious light, and the best songs on the album - notably “Short Story” and “Everything Is Peaceful Love” - make that shift feel earned. The reviewer's voice lingers on the exhale of “S P E Y S I D E” and then relishes how “Short Story” shimmers into the buoyant thesis of “Everything Is Peaceful Love”, where triumphant pop melodies and pedal steel carry Vernon toward hope. Collaboration flavors the record without overwhelming it, with guest turns like Dijon and Danielle Haim underscoring moments such as “Day One” and “I’ll Be There” that push the album toward communal warmth. Overall, the critic frames these top tracks as evidence that Vernon has, finally, relented to lightness and returned to music that breathes.

Key Points

  • “Short Story” is the best song because it bridges SABLE and fABLE, shedding obfuscation with shimmering synths and vocoders.
  • The album’s core strength is Vernon’s shift from introspective melancholy to cautious hope, realized through triumphant melodies, pedal steel, and thoughtful collaborations.

Themes

atonement lightness and transcendence love and hope collaboration