Just in...Sufjan Stevens: All Delighted People (EP)

    Sufjan Stevens has quickly become one of my favorite musicians because his song writing is ingenious and so unique to anyone else. His original intent was to release an album based on every state in the USA, but he only got as far as Michigan, with Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State (2003), and Illinois, with Come on Feel the Illinoise! (2005). Sufjan is on the Asthmatic Kitty record label, founded by himself and Lowell Brams, his stepfather.
    There is no other artist that integrates classical, folk, electronica, baroque pop, and other styles so elegantly and effectively as Sufjan. His latest release and, strangely for me, barely anticipated at that--because I didn't even know of it until today when someone posted an article about it on Facebook--is the 60 min. All Delightful People (EP). It consists of eight tracks of sometimes sprawling The BQE-esque music, but all with lyrics and a greater range of instrumentational dimension. There is a lot of acoustic string guitar [or banjo], with electronic beats at times, full chorus vocals or at least reverb to enhance the depth of Sufjan's voice, and some jam band moments that are almost funk if not reminiscent of 70's rock.
    The track listing is: (1) All Delighted People (original) (2) Enchanting Ghost (3) Heirloom (4) From the Mouth of Gabriel (5) The Owl and the Tanager (6) All Delighted People (classical rock version) (7) Arnika (8) Djohariah
    Despite the album's title, All Delighted People, there are slow and dreary songs, which are some of Sufjan's best and most beautiful inventions in my opinion, like "The Seer's Tower" from Come on Feel the Illinoise!. "The Owl and the Tanager", for example, is very minimal with lo-fi piano and reverb vocals, which he has either recorded over himself or has a woman's voice covering harmony above his melodic lines. I just love the mix of styles, like on the classic rock version of "All Delighted People" which goes back and forth between banjo simplicity and full on big bandish trombone rockin' 70's rock. "Djohariah" is apparently the jam for single mothers, plus Sufjan has a sister name Djohariah. I'll let you enjoy the rest yourself! I've uploaded "From the Mouth of Gabriel" because it incorporates all the different styles you might hear on the album fairly well, minus the 70's funk jam band; you'll just have to check out the whole album yourself.