Stevens’ seventh studio album
Sufjan Stevens’ latest album Carrie & Lowell is a beautiful interpretation of life, love, and loss. Stevens’ seventh full-length studio album was not scheduled to be released until March 30, but was gifted to the internet by way of leak sometime at the beginning of the month. The album moves in waves through themes of life and death, depression and elation, solitude and company. Musically, it’s amazingly soft with the intricate guitar picking that is typical of Stevens. His chillingly present but subdued vocals undermine the power of the thought-provoking lyrics. It’s softly melodic but the words cause it to be hard-hitting because they are so incredibly honest. Stevens returns to his folk roots, and there is much less of an electronic aspect than in Age of Adz, but the songs still sound so grand. He accompanies himself by playing guitar, banjo, and piano on certain tracks. The album was recorded in various locations, just like how the songs recall all sorts of places in life. A few of the tracks on this album were actually recorded by Stevens on his smartphone in a hotel room in Oregon.
Carrie & Lowell is named after his mother and stepfather, and follows something of a story that spans decades. It sounds like a memory. It’s a compilation of heart-rending ballads that commemorate the relationships he had with his family, who lived in Oregon throughout his childhood. Instead of continuing the tradition of naming albums after states, like 2005’s Illinois and 2003’s Michigan, he named Carrie and Lowell for the people it is about. It creates a landscape of dead-end roads, stories about growing up in a city, learning how to make relationships, and losing yourself in the indignities of society. It’s about finding your meaning in a world of uselessness. It’s emotional and beautiful, and I can’t turn it off.