New Sufjan Stevens EP available now

[cobl04]

A really great Sufjan song: The Upper Peninsula. The guitar on the back half of that is terrific.

 

[cobl04]

Planetarium: great background music but nothing that leaves a lasting impression. The album's last three tracks (Saturn, Earth and Mercury) are the three best.

C&L Live got a harsh Pitchfork review that I think was written by someone who didn't see the concert. Which is fair enough I suppose but it's full of mischaracterisations.

 

[cobl04]

This from Call Me By Your Name is even haunting than the original, if that's possible

 

[gump]

Academy Award Nominee Sufjan Stevens. Holy moly.

 

[gump]

St Vincent will join Sufjan tonight at the Oscars. This should be great.

 

[bono_212]

Can't wait.

 

[bono_212]

Sufjan time.

 

[gump]

It was pretty nice, though short. He has no chance of winning but it’s a very pretty song.

 

[gump]

His jacket though.

 

[cobl04]

The man is a myth unto himself.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Finally got around to listening to The Greatest Gift, good stuff.

 

[cobl04]

Age of Adz I think has become my favourite Sufjan Stevens song, replacing even Impossible Soul.

I love it dearly. The chaotic, pneumatic Disney vibe that sets the scene over the first minute is just hugely enlivening, and then it continues to grow over the next few minutes with raucous horns coming in as well. I get that it puts a lot of people off but hidden beneath it all is a heartrending song about the struggle between the pull of life and the black hole of depression and suicidal thoughts.

And finally, after five minutes, most of the orchestration gives way to just Sufjan, some gentle guitar and those pneumatics.

When I die, when I die
I'll rot
But when I live, when I live
I'll give it all I've got...

The music swells again, reaching a slow, cacophonous crescendo as Sufjan sings potentially his bleakest lyrics ever (which is saying a lot).

I've lost
The will
To fight

I was
Not made
For life

And then the final minute sees all of the effects eventually, one by one, stripped away, leaving just Sufjan's beautiful, heartbreaking voice and a plucked acoustic guitar.

Now I have known you
For just a little while
I feel I must be
Wearing my welcome
I must be moving on

For my intentions, were good intentions
I could have loved you, I could have changed you

I wouldn't be so, I wouldn't feel so
Consumed by selfish thoughts

I'm sorry if I
Seem self-effacing
It's only that I
Still love you deeply
It's all the love I got

Fucking gorgeous.

 

[u2popmofo]

Age of Adz tour was awesome.

 

[cobl04]

Fuck I'm so jealous of people who went to that. Bonnie saw it in Adelaide.

 

[iron yuppie]

New Sufjan album in September:
https://theascension.sufjan.com/

 

[gump]

And a 12-minute single this Friday. Over-indulgent Sufjan is BACK.

 

[cobl04]

VERY Age of Adz-esque, from the 80-minute runtime to the artwork. Not surprised, given he obviously loves Adz (and he's right to do so, it's his best album), played tracks from it more frequently the longer his Carrie & Lowell shows went on - by the end of the tour the setlist featured more Adz tracks than any other record of his - then made albums like Planetarium and Aporia which have Adz flourishes to them in parts.

If there's any artist I want to hear a 12-minute song titled America from in 2020, Sufjan's second only to Kendrick.

This Sufjan fan is exceptionally excited.

 

[LemonMelon]

Age of Adz is one of my least favorite Sufjan albums but I got my acoustic masterpiece with Carrie & Lowell so I don't mind him going over the top again. Looking forward to whatever he has in store.

 

[iron yuppie]

The special edition vinyl sold out in an hour uggghhhhh.

 

[cobl04]

Age of Adz is one of my least favorite Sufjan albums

May I ask why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LemonMelon]

May I ask why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just don't think electronic production is his forte. Some cool sounds, neat ideas, and VERY interesting and self-reflective lyricism full of confusion and doubt, but it's an album of moments for me more than songs. Futile Devices and Impossible Soul are the only ones I would list among my all time favorites by him, though most tracks have something in them I like a lot.

That said, the whole thing slaps live. The songs are so much more full, fun and life affirming.

 

[gump]

This is damn good. I’m so impressed. It will take people to Age of Adz but I don’t think it’s quite that, despite the length of the song and electronic touches. The song has more space to breathe than most things in that album. In fact the instrumentation of the second part of the song in particular makes me think a bit of the BQE suíte he did a decade ago. And the vocals are more reminiscent of Carrie & Lowell to me. But more than anything, this feels like the most openly political Sufjan has gotten (not that he hasn’t gone there before, Flint is an example). It’s a song for our times, that’s for sure.

 

[gump]

The special edition vinyl sold out in an hour uggghhhhh.

It’s available again on the Ashmatic Kitty website. I just managed to preorder.

 

[iron yuppie]

Thanks. I managed to find it on Rough Trade the other day.

 

[iron yuppie]

The whole song is stunning but I really love the end. He says the song began during the C&L sessions, and you can hear it in the coda.

 

[cobl04]

To borrow a phrase from Headache talking about Stand Up Comedy, America just made my dick hard. The Ascension is going to be the best album ever released in history and I hope everyone's ready.

 

[cobl04]

We're all gonna die.

 

[LemonMelon]

I'm not listening to America because I want to be surprised. But I'm glad people are hyped.

 

[david]

America is soooooo goooooood.

 

[gump]

For a non-album B-side My Rajneesh is quite good, though I found it a bit derivative of the Age of Adz sessions compared to America.