• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

New Sufjan Stevens Album Announced: The Ascension

SteveWinwood

SteveWinwood

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,674
USA USA USA
pitchfork.com

Sufjan Stevens Announces New Album The Ascension

Stay tuned for the 12-minute lead single “America” this Friday
pitchfork.com pitchfork.com

Sufjan Stevens has announced a new album. Billed as the follow-up to Carrie & Lowell, The Ascension comprises 15 new songs from the singer-songwriter and comes with a 16-page booklet of his drawings. It's out September 25 on Asthmatic Kitty. The 12-minute lead single, "America," is out Friday. Check out the tracklist and Sufjan-designed cover art below.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Track Listing:

01 Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse
02 Run Away With Me
03 Video Game
04 Lamentations
05 Tell Me You Love Me
06 Die Happy
07 Ativan
08 Ursa Major
09 Landslide
10 Gilgamesh
11 Death Star
12 Goodbye To All That
13 Sugar
14 The Ascension
15 America

WJRWfA9.jpg
 
Indy in the Fridge

Indy in the Fridge

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
15,278
C&L is too sad bastard for me. It's beautiful and haunting, but it isn't what I describe enjoyable music. Still plan to give this a spin once it releases.
 
Sleeping Lesson

Sleeping Lesson

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,378
SO excited for this.

I think I missed out on the 12" single, but I was able to get a pre-order for the clear vinyl on Rough Trade.
 
Tanston

Tanston

Member
Nov 29, 2017
336
This is very exciting. I wonder if it will be more C&L or more Age of Adz or more like the state albums or something else entirely. Knowing him it will probably be something else entirely.
 
Mary Celeste

Mary Celeste

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,172
Finally! I didn't love most of C&L so for me it feels like almost a decade since his last big project. Can't wait
 
OP
OP
SteveWinwood

SteveWinwood

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,674
USA USA USA
Tanston said:
This is very exciting. I wonder if it will be more C&L or more Age of Adz or more like the state albums or something else entirely. Knowing him it will probably be something else entirely.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
it says its a follow up to C&L but i dont know if they mean literally as in its following it or if its similar stylistically

the track listing has some really odd references to other pop music and pop culture so im not really sure how thats going to fit in with the somber and serious mood of C&L

so something else entirely is a pretty fair bet

im sure it will be quality no matter what
 
Indy in the Fridge

Indy in the Fridge

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
15,278
SteveWinwood said:
it says its a follow up to C&L but i dont know if they mean literally as in its following it or if its similar stylistically

the track listing has some really odd references to other pop music and pop culture so im not really sure how thats going to fit in with the somber and serious mood of C&L

so something else entirely is a pretty fair bet

im sure it will be quality no matter what
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
you get only 2 types of track titles from this guy.

you either get one word meditations like "Ativan" or you get a short story like:

"The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!'"
 
julian

julian

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,748
Uh oh. There's a track called Video Game. Also, you all are making me realize there is a lot of Sufjan Stevens I never got around to.
 
Bjomesphat

Bjomesphat

Member
Nov 5, 2017
1,819
C&L is in my top 10 of all time, so I'm really excited. And if it's anything like the tracks he did for Call Me by Your Name, it will be another amazing album.

Surprisingly, Illinois doesn't hold up as well as I remembered. I prefer stripped down Sufjan.
 
JohnTruckasaurus

JohnTruckasaurus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
256
Dude made a random-ass Illinois holiday into an all-time gut punch song about grief. I fully expect "Death Star" to somehow wind a reference to Star Wars into a brutal anecdote about childhood and loss. Or it could be 23 minutes of laser noises and vintage synths. Such is the Sufjan experience.
 
OP
OP
SteveWinwood

SteveWinwood

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,674
USA USA USA
julian said:
Uh oh. There's a track called Video Game. Also, you all are making me realize there is a lot of Sufjan Stevens I never got around to.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
hes got a lot of fun side stuff he's done

heres a techno classical collection about the solar system and heres a ten part ballet soundtrack

how about a new age album inspired by enya and blade runner he made with his step dad
 
Emergency & I

Emergency & I

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,634
Man. I was born/raised in Eugene, Oregon and had no idea what Carrie & Lowell was about when it came out. One of the cooler feelings/emotions I've had taking in music. That record dials me into my youth and memories like nothing else.

Incredibly excited for what's next.
 
Sleeping Lesson

Sleeping Lesson

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,378
If you missed out on the 12" America single, it seems to still be in stock on Bull Moose. Supposedly the single is limited to 1500 copies worldwide which seems insane.
 
SeroTyler

SeroTyler

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,140
I adored Carrie and Lowell(especially the live version), but I need this to be like Age of Adz.
 
laikalot

laikalot

Member
May 30, 2020
837
Another Sufjan album with no studio recording of Majesty Snowbird on it. One day, one day.
 
ultraluna

ultraluna

Member
Jun 3, 2020
1,880
Oh shit, Sufjan is one of my favorite composers. The live Carrie and Lowell album is a masterpiece, I hope this one's on the same level (didn't really care for Aporia).
 
Distantmantra

Distantmantra

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,148
Seattle
maruchan said:
But Carole and Lowe could be unofficially called Oregon. He even says that. I agree age of adz 2
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yep. He talked about doing an Oregon record for years, and then the album talks a lot about his time in Eugene along with references to Tillamook, the Rogue river, Painted Hills, Portland, the Dalles, etc.

www.dailyemerald.com

Here’s every Oregon reference on Sufjan Stevens’ new ‘Carrie & Lowell’

Sufjan Stevens has strong personal ties to Oregon. Between the ages of five and eight, he summered in Oregon with his mother Carrie and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Their names
www.dailyemerald.com www.dailyemerald.com

And don't forget The Lord God Bird he did for Arkansas through that NPR project.
 
Last edited:
GYODX

GYODX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,233
Sufjan Stevens is probably my favorite artist.

One of my favorite (and imo, underrated) songs of his:

 
ejoshua

ejoshua

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,402
Okay bro. You got me. You're only my favorite music artist of all time. He released Carrie and Lowell the same time my mother died of cancer so that album and I are bonded for eternity.
 
Nyrad

Nyrad

Member
Oct 27, 2017
214
He's my favorite Artist and this announcement in my inbox made this week for sure. I hope the sound is a bit more like Age of Adz than Carrie & Lowell since Age of Adz which was a transformative experience for me. I never heard music like that before, can't believe it has been 10 years now...

I also hope he's gonna go on tour in 2022 or after. I flew from Austria to Berlin and a few years later to Paris just to see him perform Carrie & Lowell/Planetarium and both were amazing experiences well worth the price and time.

We should make this an OT :D
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.