Stevens has received Academy Award and Grammy Award nominations. You might find yourself scratching your head repeatedly, but in the end, you’ll feel like you’ve been strangely seduced. The Ascension’s maximalist reckoning finds his horror at national affairs mirroring his own inner turbulence. Limited edition pressed on clear vinyl issued with tip-on gatefold sleeve with a 16-page booklet of original drawings by Sufjan Stevens, download card and printed inner sleeves. Stylistically it is a complete change from the lo-fi, bare bones approach to "Carrie & Lowell". The record provides an expansive canvas for Sufjan to critique the flaws of humanity, at the same time finding room for the inward focus that made his previous offering so compelling. It was released through Asthmatic Kitty on September 25, 2020. On this sometimes obstinate, sometimes sublime record, Stevens shows he contains multitudes. Stevens has said that this is his more pessimistic record yet but with him crafting this album, one with so much thoughtfulness to it, shows that ultimately while he is upset with how things are in the current climate, he cares enough to air his grievances in this intriguing, beautiful and quite sprawling way. The Ascension demonstrates a great deal of growth, expansion, and experimentation in Sufjan Stevens’ work. The title track on The Ascension is one of the best songs Sufjan Stevens has ever written. He has enjoyed wide critical success in the United States. The Ascension sees him lay down new paths while very much corroborating his special, loved status. Somehow, a wonderful surprise. Lamentations 5. Death Star (4:04)12. Sufjan Stevens is a singer-songwriter currently living in New York City. A hypesticker reads: '2xLP first-run edition includes clear vinyl and tip-on gatefold jacket, includes download code'. Goodbye To All That 13. All songs performed, recorded, engineered, arranged, mixed and produced by Sufjan Stevens, with additional contributions (*) recorded and engineered by James McAlister and Casey Foubert at their respective home studios. Requested by THEBESTESTVIDEOSEVER THEVIDEOSAREAWESOME Returns.Credit goes to Sufjan Stevens. A joyous blend of dumb fun and sonic smarts with the talent that Stevens has been peddling for nearly 20 years to glue them together, this feels a fresh start in a career that didn’t exactly need one. Run Away With Me 3. The Ascension ranks with Carrie & Lowell as his most personal and affecting work to date. The Ascension is the eighth studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens and is the long awaited follow-up to Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell. Rajneesh portrait by Stephen Halker. America It's a pretty amazing record for a number of reasons. A sonic sibling to 2010’s electro-pop Age of Adz and a direct follow-up to 2015’s autobiographical, folk-orchestral Carrie and Lowell, The Ascension looks outward. On his eighth album, Stevens has gone back to the future to soundtrack the current moment, sitting alone at his computer and thinking about the way the world is going (hint: to hell in a handcart) and how he could address that. Both lyrically and musically, The Ascension appears to be driven by feeling rather than intense intellectualism. Cover art and album design by Sufjan Stevens. Gilgamesh 11. Sufjan Stevens (/ ˈ s uː f j ɑː n / SOOF-yahn; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.He has released eight solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. When Sufjan Stevens first wrote ‘America’, the lead single for his eighth studio album ‘The Ascension’, he shelved it. Sufjan Stevens (Born July 1, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Petoskey, Michigan. A bloated and often beautiful portrait of political and emotional anxiety that longs for nothing more than to break away from the systems that brought us to this current moment. Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse (5:19)2. the complexity of ‘the ascension’ is result of sufjan’s drive for perfectionism; the mixing is insane, so congrats to suf for that. Run Away With Me (4:07)3. As the horror show that is 2020 continues to rumble on, âThe Ascensionâ is yet another ample soundtrack to rage-dance to. CONTACT: US PUBLICITY // EU PUBLICITY // RADIO // LICENSING // MANAGEMENT // LABEL. The Ascension received positive reviews upon its release. Tell Me You Love Me 6. The various depressive quips throughout Ascension feel more like self-parody than self-affirmation. 15 tracks (80:37). The Ascension is the eighth studio album by Sufjan Stevens. The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens, released 25 September 2020 1. Tell Me You Love Me (4:22)6. Ativan 8. On the upside, there is plenty of instrumental variety, though the lack of focus seems more the result of meandering at-home synth exploration than innovation. Answer: English synth-pop from the early '80s. There’s a stunning candour to the lyrics, though it gets a little stodgy in the mid-section and, at 80+ minutes, is a little more verbiage than the typical album. The Ascension 15. CD and vinyl include a 16-page booklet of original drawings by Sufjan Stevens. (Photo via YouTube) More and more, it’s looking like Sufjan Stevens hit a wall after recording his … Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Pocket Share on Reddit Share on Facebook Share on Email. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension [Official Audio] 5:58; Sufjan Stevens - America [Official Audio] 12:33 Sufjan ... Standard black vinyl edition issued with 16-page booklet of original drawings by Sufjan Stevens, download card and printed inner sleeves. Gilgamesh (3:50)11. Lamentations (3:42)5. My Rajneesh (10:29). THE ASCENSION // SUGAR // VIDEO GAME // AMERICA // RELEASE CALENDAR // STORE // TUMBLR, 1. Yet we’re dealing with an untypical songwriter, and the last two tracks are among the best he’s ever written. America (12:30)Side B2. The Ascension will be available on streaming, digital, CD, cassette, 2xLP black vinyl, and first-pressing 2xLP clear vinyl with tip-on gatefold. Not only is it one of his best album–if not his best–it is clearly a contender for Album Of The Year. Lyssna gratis på Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension (Make Me an Offer I Cannot Refuse, Run Away with Me och mer). Ativan (6:32)8. Now Read. 35 new musicians to make 2020 better. Limited to 1,500 worldwide.All songs written, recorded and produced by Sufjan Stevens. Sugar (7:37)14. Listen free to Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension (Make Me an Offer I Cannot Refuse, Run Away with Me and more). He is known for his lyrically focused and instrumentally rich songs that often relate to faith and family. Youtube; The Ascension Sufjan Stevens. Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at Last.fm. Death Star 12. Limited edition pressed on clear vinyl issued with tip-on gatefold sleeve with a 16-page booklet of original drawings by Sufjan Stevens, download card and printed inner sleeves. CD and vinyl include a 16-page booklet of original drawings by Sufjan Stevens.All songs written, recorded and produced by Sufjan Stevens. It may very well be his most challenging and ambitious undertaking to date as well as a sign of the new era of Stevens to come. Yet, Sufjan Stevens has created a work that deserves to heard. “I wanna die happy” are the only lyrics of the eerie and existential track ‘Die Happy’, which I strangely enjoy as a brief reminder in the midst of the album of the small goals of humanity in momentous times. The Ascension is almost too anxious to bear, but always draws you into its gravitational pull. The Ascension is one of Sufjan Stevens’ grandest, most ambitious works yet, and that’s quite the feat considering he’s one of the most ambitious musicians in his genre. Starting with his breakout indie-folk record Michigan which started the brief idea he would release an album representing each state in the US, the stellar and similarly bright Illinois being the only follow-up to that concept, Stevens had a period of time where he was the poster-boy for positivity in the indie scene; a carefree and whimsical songwriter. Sufjan Stevens is a master of sound who makes its creative manipulation appear so easy. +++ Sufjan Stevens The ascension Asthmatic Kitty/Playground POP I sällsamma stunder hör man en låt som, redan vid första lyssningen, framstår som en långvarig vän. Ursa Major 9. While Stevens often reaches great heights on The Ascension, he almost as often seems to get lost in his big ideas. Accompanying himself on keyboard with a sad, pulsing melody, Stevens … Sufjan Stevens is a very different person than he was in his late twenties. The more one listens, the more once begins to appreciate the density of this work and its ability to transform expectations. Album The Ascension. Props to whoever trolled me tho. The Ascension may become something of a white elephant in Stevens’ discography: an album of lavish assembly, clearly of immense importance to its creator, and, during its best moments, impressively riveting, but also, you suspect, one that few will revisit in its presented form – a record that only the most devoted of Sufjan stans will be able to swallow whole. Landslide (5:04)10. The richness and depth of the album calls for repeated and careful listening. Some copies included an additional The Ascension insert 17092020. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2020 Vinyl release of "The Ascension" on Discogs. Upptäck mer musik, konserter, videor och bilder med den största katalogen online på Last.fm. Video Game 4. When a God Returns At the End (or, Virtuoso Thoughts in D Minor), dang, I thought he was gonna give it a 7+ score at first, why you gotta play with my emotions anthony ð, what a crazy ass album. Wow. The album art for Sufjan Stevens' latest release, "The Ascension." Ursa Major (3:43)9. Die Happy (5:47)7. Though some might find the odd track a bit noodly, I was rendered wonderfully weightless by a journey that delivered whole galaxies of nuance in a universal context. America (12:30). Exhaustive, dense, and detailed, Sufjan Stevensâ electro-opus is another huge artistic leap that speaks plainly to complicated emotions and attempts to rebuild his sound from the ground up. Goodbye To All That (3:48)13. Produced by Sufjan Stevens. Side A1. âAmericaâ will be available as a 12-inch 45rpm single with âMy Rajneeshâ on side B. insanely challenging, I find it wild that a Sufjan Stevens album is only the 3rd most talked about album this week, Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State, âï¸AOTY’s Top 50 Albums of 2020 - List Aggregateâï¸, AOTY's favourite artists best album in my opinion, Sufjan Stevens shares video for new song “Sugar”, Sufjan Stevens shares new track "Video Game", New Track: Sufjan Stevens – “My Rajneesh”. Though generally not lacking in beauty or scale, The Ascension has a handful of somewhat grating moments that make it harder to love as a holistic experience. Sufjan Stevens has been involved in a few releases since, but really "The Ascension" is the follow up proper to 2015's "Carrie & Lowell". Photo: Kris Connor/FilmMagic I was incredibly disappointed. Sufjan Stevens The Ascension. Sugar 14. Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse 2. Stevens doesnât feel the need to defend himself; he trusts that, this time, we know heâs not fucking around, delivering a confident album that runs through with hooks and synthesized textures that reach sky-high and often get there. this is the most direct mr. Stevens has ever been, and the honesty shines through. But instead of just using it as window dressing, he subsumes that sound and tries to repurpose it for 2020. After three minutes of listening to Sufjan Stevens’ eighth studio album for the first time, I was forced to stop and pause from the sonic explosions pulsing through my ears. The Ascension, the latest album from Sufjan Stevens, abrasively discusses America’s failures through a kaleidoscope of synthesisers, drum machines, and proclamations. These are grand themes and, throughout, the record cosmically fuses together the epic and intimate. The Ascension harks back to the heavy electronics of 2010’s Age of Adz but with adroit focus on the themes of existential dread and the quest for meaning with a bounty of angry yet hopeful songs that satisfy melodically and metaphysically. Sufjan Stevens' The Ascension is out on Friday 25 September. Conor Oberst on the time Springsteen gave him a pep talk. Ultimately, it’s those ethereal effects that color this album and give it its feel overall. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received an average score of 80 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". . Certainly The Ascension is by no means perfect. The best albums of 2020 so far. Sufjan calls The Ascension his protest album, but it’s also the closest thing to pop music he’s ever made. In short, it’s a 2020 album about self-healing and the wounds that are still fresh. The Ascension will be available on streaming, digital, CD, cassette, 2xLP black vinyl, and first-pressing 2xLP clear vinyl with tip-on gatefold.