With all due respect to the man as a collaborator and experimental musician, it’s safe to say that Sufjan Stevens’ listeners have gotten uncharacteristically rowdy since 2015’s Carrie & Lowell—the songwriter’s last true “Sufjan Stevens” album—as he’s announced nearly a dozen records since then that haven’t quite fit that bill. That all changes today with the reveal of Stevens’ long-anticipated eighth LP (or his 20th, if you’re counting all those extracurriculars) titled Javelin, set for release on October 6 via Asthmatic Kitty.
While we anticipate the record’s collaborations from Bryce Dessner, Nedelle Torrisi, and several other past musical co-conspirators, and its closing cover of Neil Young’s “There’s a World,” Stevens is sharing the album’s lead single today, “So You Are Tired,” which sees him returning to his most familiar form: Gentle acoustic guitar and vocals are accentuated by backing harmonies and chamber folk textures as the track gently rises.
The LP will be accompanied by a 48-page book of collages, essays, “cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds, and iterative color fields,” per a press release, all created by Stevens in order to add new dimensions to the project. Check out the new track below, and pre-order Javelin here.
