Just in...Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell

     Sufjan Stevens is one of the poster boys for indie music, especially in the folk category where this latest release enjoys a beautiful repose. Inspired by the passing of Sufjan's mother, this gorgeous expression of grief, doubt, faith and question is compared to the Psalmist David from the Bible on the Washington Post website, here. Carrie, Sufjan's mother (Lowell his step-father), apparently battled alcoholism and mental illness most of her life, which may have provided Sufjan with less than a normal upbringing and childhood affection for his mother. Speculation aside, the album is wrought with affection for his mother, imagery from his childhood and questions about life, death and God's provision.
     Much unlike his most previous albums, The Age of Adz (2010) and Silver & Gold (2012), Carrie & Lowell is neither abrasively electronic or whimsical. Rather it is flowing, fleeting and fearless in its expression. The whole thing is fragile in sense. Its almost as if I expect to hear Sufjan not able to hold back tears and sobs in the recording studio or something. This album makes me deeply empathetic or at least compassionate because I can only imagine how my own mother's death would make me feel. The sound itself is more like "Enchanting Ghost" from All Delighted People (EP, 2010). Multiple guitar-like instruments grace each track, applying hopeful sonority, with more ambient and somber synthesizer tones appearing once in a while.
     Some highlights, or songs I have particularly enjoyed listening to are:
(1) "Death with Dignity" - the title says it all and begs the question, how is death dignifying? this song just lays the groundwork for the entire album really well, entering in to the conversation with an honest and open mind, the piano taking over the melody is a nice touch as well
(2) "Should Have Known Better" - a beautiful guitar track with a gorgeous melody overtop, I could listen to this one over and over, its so calming and yet serious in context, this song delves as far as Carrie & Lowell does into the realm of the electronic that Sufjan's latest releases have been riddled with, yet does not travel too far
(4) "Drawn to the Blood" - instead of broken guitar chords this song contains quickly strummed chords that repeat as they fade in and out, ending in a wash of ambient synth chords and strings
(5) "Eugene" - contrite and pretty, with a lovely cadence on the ends of phrases, this is short and sweet
(8) "Carrie & Lowell" - the banjo and teasingly more upbeat nature of this song provides hope and beauty, especially with the twinkling metallic-like emanations from plucking guitar strings, glitches and sleigh bells with mellowed chords in the synthesizer
(9) "John My Beloved" - this song has an ostinato pinging sound that reminds me of Coldplay's song "Midnight", even thought it has a different quality
(10) "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross" - just has a gorgeous melody with simple broken chords on a guitar, the guitar is stable in a sense and Sufjan's vocals are falsetto with some quiver and ethereal ooh's that balance the stability in a profound way
    If you want to hear it all, check out Spotify, or Sufjan's Bandcamp website here (all but two tracks have been opened up for free playing). His album also appeared on NPR's First Listen, here, but may be taken down shortly since it has just released. I've embedded the title track "Carrie & Lowell" over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. Enjoy!