Sufjan Stevens, intimate side
The last album of this American forty-year-old, The Ascension, dates back to 2020 but the songwriter’s peak is considered to be the album Carrie
The production of the album is truly extraordinary, both limpid and detailed, spare and abundant. Here the man approaches the most intimate side of his inspiration. Her touching voice expresses with great delicacy the seriousness of the words. Javelin belongs to the category of mourning albums. The musician lost his companion before writing these cathartic songs. Each is marked by great modesty, drawing the self-portrait of a very sensitive person. Guitar, piano, light electronic textures, the careful arrangements all serve a superb collection of songs.
With a varied discography, Stevens brings together here the best of his last 25 years of creation. Never has one of his albums shown so much scope. We sometimes think of the sound of the great American records of the 1970s recorded in lush studios, while the songwriter assembled these titles at home with the help of very close friends. Among which we find Bryce Dessner of The National on guitars. The album closes with a phenomenal cover of There’s A World by Neil Young, much better than the original released in 1972 on the Harvest album.
Sufjan Stevens, «Javelin», Asthmatic Kitty/Modulor
The Canadian genius continues the exploration of her archives, gleaned over the course of a dazzling discography, begun in 1968. After two interesting first volumes, this third part looks at the musician’s most beautiful years: those during which she was on the Asylum label, founded by mogul David Geffen. A period marked both by hits and by crazy creativity. The young woman’s style was then in a state of flux: she gradually abandoned the folk roots of her beginnings to approach more ambitious arrangements, on the borders of jazz. With 96 titles, this box set allows you to follow the composer’s developments closely. His genius is at work on fiercely personal and original pieces. We are far from the academicism of his first masterpiece Blue.
The song models reveal the profound originality of this pioneer’s writing. Live recordings reveal the strength of his interpretation. A unique studio session saw her perform her classic Raised on Robbery with Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers who were then busy recording Tonight’s The Night. Elsewhere, we hear the voices of Crosby and Nash, pillars of the supergroup who made the song Woodstock a generational anthem. We also find several versions of the title “Edith
A 5 CD or 4 LP box set (Reprise/Warner)
