New Sufjan Stevens EP available now

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I need a lot more time with this one. But what I can say is I really wish there were a single review or interview out there that didn't mention the 50 states thing.
 
Bit of a closer listen now done, heard it through probably four or so times. Atvian through Goodbye to All That is a huge, huge struggle for me. None of it is really sticking for me, it all feels a bit anonymous. The Ascension is terrific, I really like Make Me an Offer, Lamentations goes to a great place and I love the haunting vibes of Die Happy despite its simplicity. Video Game I think stands up better on its own than in the context of the record. America and Sugar are comfortably the two best songs for mine. And My Rajneesh would be very comfortably in the top handful of songs on here.
 
I'm still not sure what to think of this. If it wasn't Sufjan, I would not have returned to it after the first listen, but he's earned the trust that repeated listens will bring out nuance. It's almost the complete inverse of Carrie & Lowell aesthetically. This is the equivalent of an ultra-HD picture vs the black and white style of C&L. It starts very strong but I think needs more textural variety through the middle.

Edit: seems like I'm feeling similar to Cobbler. I'm not quite as taken with the title track as everyone else is, though the lyric about mistaking loneliness and depression for faith is heart-wrenching.
 
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The title track is by far my favorite track on here, the only one that stirred me emotionally the way his best tracks always have.
 
I listened to All Delighted People for the first time in forever today (funny it's the release that started this thread). There are a few absolute gems on there: Enchanting Ghost and The Owl and the Tanager specifically. As an album it sounds like classic Sufjan, but there is something vaguely experimental and off-kilter about it that I can't really put my finger on.
 
Ridiculous it's considered an EP. I really love it. I can't believe you wouldn't mention Heirloom as one of the gems though. And Djohariah is fantastic as well.
 
A song from that era that I find somewhat underrated is You Are the Blood, where I think he really started experimenting before All Delighted People and Age of Adz came out, but it still has some of the maximalist instrumentation of Illinois). It's not widely released (he made it for the Dessner brothers' Dark Was the Night compilation), but I really like its darker atmosphere. Over-indulgent for sure, but I go back to it from time to time.

 
ooh, verrrry interesting. I think it speaks to the disappointment we all felt that The Ascension was pretty much completely forgotten about.

Also, he uses Oblique Strategies, which is cool. I own a box too.
 
I assume it will be something low-key like Aporia, but who knows. And yeah, I realized the other day that I must have played The Ascension front to back 2-3 times total.
 
It's a very breezy listen. Sufjan can write this kind of off-kilter folk stuff so effortlessly. I'd be curious to hear him explore the Motown-esque sound of Back to Oz in more depth.
 
Definitely wasn't tremendous or up their with his best on first listen for me, but it was definitely pleasant and merits many more listens. Back to Oz is outstanding.

We listened to The Ascension the other night, that album is a real disappointment. You could make a fucking great EP out of it though.
 
Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse
Video Game
Die Happy
Ursa Major
Sugar
The Ascension
America
My Rajneesh

And even that would be 55 minutes long lol.
 
I've played it through quite a few times now. Back to Oz is stellar, Olympus is terrific (both tracks that seem to have Wizard of Oz references), and I like Lady Macbeth, Reach Out, It's Your Own Body, This is the Thing, but much of the rest doesn't stick with me.
 
Sufjan writing a song from the perspective of Buffalo Bill talking to Jonathan Demme has made my entire month.
 
I read Sufjan’s post about his partner passing just before I heard the new record, and it’s destroying me. Damn, he has been through a lot. Hugging my loved ones close tonight.

It’s a jarringly beautiful record. Musically I think he managed to translate the C&L live sound in a way that I had wanted to hear since that tour. But it’s such a painful listen that I don’t know how often I can go back to it.
 
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The new album is tremendous. No one is even remotely in his league when it comes to this kind of confessional style, and somehow he has created a new dimension for it yet again. The instrumentation is incredibly evocative throughout. It's the first album from anyone in a long time that I've felt a compulsion to go rave about on social media the way that 14-year-olds do, and I mean that in the best way possible - it's very life affirming.
 
Gosh, I'm listening to this a second time after hearing about his partner's passing and the lyrics are about 10x more powerful in that context.

I think this album is going to be another Sufjan classic.
 
Sorry, huge letdown. C&L is in my top 10 albums of all time. This one seems to try and mimic it, but end up with absolutely nothing that made C&L the transcendent album that it is.
 
Ok, I'm going to give it a couple more listens,

I love LIttle Red Fox and There's a World. So I'm going back with an open mind, and trying not to make comparisons. Appreciate it for what it is, not what it is not.
 
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