Drops: Bon Iver's inventive second album

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon is a speak-softly, big-stick-carrying kinda guy.

He doesn't need to talk himself up, like his pal Kanye West, who drafted him to sing on "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." He doesn't need showy solos to prove his musicianship. The music speaks for him just fine.

And his sophomore album, "Bon Iver" (Jagjaguwar), says plenty with its eclectic arrangements and dreamy, poignant storytelling. Even when it's hard to make out what he's singing, it's not hard to make out what he's feeling.

Vernon's secret weapon is his inventiveness, and he unleashes it early and often. On the opener, "Perth," he stacks his falsetto vocals to make them sound mighty, and then he fills the song's empty spaces with what sounds like a chorus of little bearded folkie angels to help him do his bidding.

He builds "Calgary" from something sweet and acoustic to something driven and rocking before he declares "When the demons come, they can't subside."

For "Beth/Rest," Vernon turns toward Bruce Hornsby and the Range's "Mandolin Rain" -- no, really -- and plays up the ache in his vocals. He sounds so much more alienated when surrounded by soothing synths, extraneous bits of saxophone and guitar solos.

"Bon Iver" makes it clear that Vernon's raw, thrilling debut "For Emma, Forever Ago" was no fluke. He's now a major player in the indie-rock world, whether he acts that way or not.

'Bon Iver'

GRADE A

BOTTOM LINE Powerful, but not loud, vocals over bold, but not brash, soundscapes