Since his 2005 record (and the official end of the Fifty States project) Illinois, Sufjan Stevens has pushed his songwriting experimentalism and conceptualism far and away from the soft-spoken, emotionally heavy indie folk that we first came to know from the musician—writing an orchestral suite for the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (2009’s The BQE) and an electronic examination of schizophrenic artist Royal Robertson (2010’s The Age of Adz).
Today, Stevens has announced his first record in four years, Carrie & Lowell, and released an album trailer with a snippet of the title track, which sounds like a return to the sounds of Seven Swans and Michigan. In typical Suf form, the track list suggests a familiar exploration on themes of religion, death, family, and love.
Carrie & Lowell tracklist
1. Death With Dignity
2. Should Have Known Better
3. All of Me Wants All of You
4. Drawn to the Blood
5. Fourth of July
6. The Only Thing
7. Carrie & Lowell
8. Eugene
9. John My Beloved
10. No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
11. Blue Bucket of Gold
Carrie & Lowell will be released March 30, and is available for preorder now over at Asthmatic Kitty.
