Album: Sufjan Stevens - 'Carrie & Lowell'

Beethoven

MARCH 30

Tracklist:
1. Death With Dignity (3:59)
2. Should Have Known Better (5:07)
3. All Of Me Wants All Of You (3:41)
4. Drawn to the Blood (3:18)
5. Eugene (2:26)
6. Fourth of July (4:39)
7. The Only Thing (4:44)
8. Carrie & Lowell (3:14)
9. John My Beloved (5:04)
10. No Shade in the Shadow of The Cross (2:40)
11. Blue Bucket of Gold (4:43)

Beethoven

Playa Playa

FINALLY

Bloomers

I just saw the news for this!

It's been too long since Age Of Adz

do val

I was just thinking about this guy! So glad for new tunes

M.R.

Out on Monday.

M.R.

He's one half of The Welcome Wagon (band singed to Asthmatic Kitty Records, Suffy's label).

Eric.

Oh man. I'm excited!

Tymps.

Hold the **** up, what. So excited.

Hope he's not reverting back to his old basic folk sound though

I loved the full, joyful instrumentations of Illinois and the psychotic mix of orchestral instruments with weird synthesizers on Age of Adz. His straight-up folk stuff is a little too basic musically for my tastes tbh.

All the more power to him though.

M.R.

Quote:

Musically, it’s easily his most bare album, with most songs offering only crystalline acoustic guitar or piano along with Stevens’ ghostly whisper of a singing voice. There are no orchestral crescendos, no electronic freakouts, no drums. Stevens jokingly describes the album’s sound as “easy listening,” though it’s more akin to the harrowing moodiness of Nick Drake or early Elliott Smith than James Taylor. And there’s nothing smooth or simple about its subject matter, which revolves around the death of Stevens’ mother in December 2012.

Quote:

Carrie & Lowell is not a sentimental affair, though. Stevens brings out all of the hurt and confusion of his relationship with his mother, as well as the debilitating aftermath of her passing, with lyrics that are poetic and unflinching. He sings of suicidal thoughts, regret, violence, brushfires, hospitals, shadows, recklessness, blood. “I just wanted to be near you,” he pleads on the album, exposing the core of his own history.

More about his views on life, family, new album etc. over here.

Bloomers

No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross is beautiful

I love how he can mention Casper the Ghost and being staked through the heart like a vampire and make it the most accessible thing in the world.

I can't wait for this album

M.R.

Reading this interview and he talking about his mother, reminded me of "Romulus" and the honesty about his relationship -- or lack of it -- with her.

Quote:

Once when our mother called
She had a voice of last year's cough
We passed around the phone
Sharing a word about Oregon

When my turn came
I was ashamed
When my turn came
I was ashamed

Once when we moved away
She came to Romulus for a day
Her Chevrolet broke down
We prayed it never be fixed or be found

Tymps.

Yeah I'm listening to No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross and honestly I really don't like

I don't need all my favorite artists to sing well but Sufjan's baby-ish, breathy voice almost always feels a little distracting to me on his smaller songs when he doesn't utilize it well. His less-orchestrated songs are very hit or miss for me (hits are like Casimir Pulaski Day, John Wayne Gacy Jr) and if this first song is any indicator this album is going to mostly be miss.

Does anyone else feel the same way? I just think Sufjan's best asset has always been his arrangements and artistic visions and while this is ambitious in a strange sort of way it's not exactly what I wanted from him. I'm sure lots of other people will love it.

AndresVanDeKamp

I'm obsessed with "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross." If this is how it all sounds then it might be my favourite album of his yet.

When he says "**** me, I'm falling apart" I don't know whether to be turned on or be in tears. I love my baby Sufjan.

KK_Lover

Someone leak the album now!!! the first song is sooooo goooood

M.R.

Quote:

In the lead-up to the release of Carrie & Lowell, Asthmatic Kitty will be holding “silent” listening parties worldwide for the new Sufjan Stevens album. They are being dubbed the "Sufjan Stevens Indies Only Silent Listening Party,” and the first one will take place at Other Music in New York City today.

M.R.

Those lyrics.

I don't think I will make it to the end of album.

And please leak already.

Quote:

What's left is only bittersweet
For the rest of my life, admitting the best is behind me
Now I'm drunk and afraid, wishing the world would go away
What's the point of singing songs
If they'll never even hear you?

KK_Lover

If the listening party it's today I predict a leak very soon !

Mhs90

KK_Lover

Leaked