I was prepared to loathe Bon Iver’s new album, 22, A Million, as soon as I read the song titles. How do you say “______45_____” out loud? And when you talk about “00000 Million,” do you say “zero zero zero zero zero million” or just “zero million?”

Once I suspended my aversion to the song titles with infinity signs and Greek letters, I began to appreciate Justin Vernon’s innovative combination of natural images and mathematical references. While 22, A Million’s distances the album from Bon Iver’s earlier, more organic works, it also allows Vernon to explore his anxieties in greater depth. In “715, CRΣΣKS,” for example, Vernon sings about longing and loss in a coarse, autotuned voice, much like that in “Woods,” from his previous work Blood Bank. The electronic modulation creates a dissonance with the natural scene of the “low moon don the yellow road” that is exacerbated by the strange, almost glitchy title.

Anxiety about the disorientation of the digital age permeates the album. Only a few songs, particularly those whose titles contain Christian allusions, have easily decipherable titles. For example, the title track,“22, A Million,” may reference David’s cry to God for help in Psalm 22: “It might be over soon,” sings Vernon, as if to answer his call. Two other songs whose titles allude to religion, “666 ʇ” and “33 GOD,” reference the album’s pseudo-religious process of synthesizing memories, physical spaces, and virtual or imagined reality into a coherent sense of self. “I find God, and religions too,” Vernon’s voice seems to buzz in the lull before the climax of “33 GOD.”

Once you start to think of 22, A Million’s metaphysical questions, it’s easy to get sucked into one of Vernon’s most complicated works yet. But for the casual listener, apart from a few stand-out songs such as “22,” and “33 ‘GOD,’” the album is nearly inaccessible. Vernon’s stylistic evolution is comparable to Kanye West’s sonic shift from the radio-ready “Watch the Throne” in 2011 to “Yeezus” in 2013. Perhaps not coincidentally, West has said in interviews that Vernon is one of his favorite living artists. In dealing with more complicated and personal themes, their tones become darker and more difficult to listen to, though perhaps more worthy of your time.