|
Style: Experimental indie-folk, compare to Anathallo, The Welcome Wagon, Danielson
Top Tracks: "From the Mouth of Gabriel," "Heirloom," "All Delighted People (Original Version)"
This 8-song, hour-long EP is a follow-up to the wordless, symphonic The BQE. The splashes of brass and electronica, choral vocals and poetic lyrics are signature, but call the collection Sufjan in long-form. The 11-minute title track—a "dramatic homage to the Apocalypse, existential ennui, and Paul Simon's 'Sounds of Silence'"—successfully undulates with operatic movements, but the 17-minute "Djohariah" grows repetitive. Overall, there's a somber weight to these cryptic chapters. Are they conversations between lovers, enemies, the Creator, and creation? The narratives are worth mining as Stevens spirals through humanity's brokenness yet stirs spiritual longing.
Copyright © 2010 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Annual & Monthly subscriptions available.
- Print & Digital Issues of CT magazine
- Complete access to every article on ChristianityToday.com
- Unlimited access to 65+ years of CT’s online archives
- Member-only special issues
- Learn more
Read These Next
- TrendingAmerican Christians Should Stand with Israel under AttackWhile we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
- From the MagazineThe Evil Ideas Behind October 7The Hamas attacks in Israel have a grotesque ideological history and deserve unflinching moral judgment.Português
- Editor's PickShoes Stay On for Maundy ThursdayFew Protestant traditions continue the footwashing that Jesus did at the Last Supper. Some want a revival of the practice.