Credits:

Sufjan Stevens

Description:

Singer/songwriter/composer Sufian Stevens will release his eighth original album, "The Ascension," on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Her last album, "Carrie and Lowell," was a top 10 hit in the U.S. and U.K., and was selected by The Guardian, Pitchfork, and other sites as one of the top albums of the year. This is their first new album in five and a half years. Sufjan Stevens is a Mississippi-born, New York-based singer-songwriter who has released seven original albums, as well as numerous concept albums and compilations. His last album, Carrie & Lowell, was a top 10 hit in the U.S. and U.K., and was named one of the top albums of the year by The Guardian, Pitchfork, and other sites. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.In March 2020, the band co-wrote and released Aporia with Lowell Brams, founder of Asthmatic Kitty and Sufjan's father-in-law. The single "America" and the album "The Ascension" are an indictment of the world that is crumbling around us and a roadmap to get out of it. It is a demand for personal transformation and a refusal to play with the system around us," Sufjan says of the album's foundation. And this first single in particular, he says, "is a song of protest against the sickness of American culture. Don't do to me what you did to America. Don't do to me what you do to yourself," Sufjan sings. While "America" may seem appropriate for today, it was actually written six years ago, originally during the making of "Carrie & Lowell" (the B-side, "My Rajneesh," is also a track from the same session). When I first wrote this song, I was amazed by it.It was kind of a mean song, and I felt it was a long way from the other songs on "Carrie & Lowell". So I shelved the song. But when I dug into the demo a few years later, I was struck by how great the song was. I could no longer dismiss it. Even if I couldn't see it at the time, the song indicated something prophetic and true. At that moment, I could see a clear path to what I had to do next," says Sufjan. Thus, Sufjan re-recorded "America. Over the next two years, using "America" as a template for the album's themes, he wrote the rest of the songs for "The Ascension" and recorded almost all of the material himself on his own computer, using a drum machine and a few synths. My goal for the album was simple. "My goal with this album was simple: to question the world around me. Question anything that lacks credibility. Root out all the bullshit. Either be part of the solution or get out of it. Be yourself, don't complicate things, and keep going," says Sufjan.The result is a "lush, statement pop album" that, according to Sufjan, tells us that we are all at "a terrible crossroads.

Tracklisting:

1.Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse
2.Run Away With Me
3.Video Game
4.Lamentations
5.Tell Me You Love Me
6.Die Happy
7.Ativan
8.Ursa Major
9.Landslide
10.Gilgamesh
11.Death Star
12.Goodbye To All That
13.Sugar
14.The Ascension
15.America