Albums Of 2023 (9)

Sufjan Stevens – Javelin

I absolutely don’t have anything profound to add about Sufjan Stevens that hasn’t already been covered in the many gushing reviews about this album. Since 2015’s spellbinding Carrie & Lowell, I haven’t kept up with every single one of his releases. Some of what he does, I love, but not everything – 2020’s The Ascension, like The Age Of Adz (2010), buried his songwriting in sometimes-overbearing electronic arrangements. The cover of 2021’s A Beginner’s Mind was so hideous as to be completely off-putting; neither did I sample Convocations (2020) – a 49-track, five “volume” instrumental release representing the five stages of grief – or his 2023 ballet score, Reflections. However, Javelin is a welcome return to what many (myself included) consider to be his best form, although as he rarely, if ever, retreads ground, this sounds both new and familiar. These excellent songs combine the hushed finger-picking tones of Carrie & Lowell with more expansive arrangements, often changing direction dramatically whilst holding back from the overbearing excess I mentioned earlier.

The 2015 Round-Up: Albums of the Year (4)

Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell

Gorgeous and sad. Sufjan completely strips back his sound from the technicolour head-fuck of Age Of Adz for this extremely personal account of his mother’s death. And he’s such a talented songwriter and producer that it still sounds utterly absorbing, his meticulous finger picks and multi-tracked vocals ever-so-gently augmented by electronics.

Uncommon Time: Five

Sufjan Stevens – Come On! Feel The Illinoise! (2005)

The title track from Sufjan‘s 2005 masterpiece (to give the full track title: “Come On! Feel The Illinoise! (The World’s Columbian Exposition / Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream)“) is like a microcosm of the album, showcasing his precocious song-writing and arranging talents in all their virtuosity. It doesn’t stick to one time signature, of course, but the first two minutes or so are joyously orchestrated 5/4 before the song settles into 4/4 for its remaining sections.