The Ascension
After 2015’s openly autobiographical *Carrie & Lowell*, Sufjan Stevens makes a dramatic musical left turn from intimate, acoustic-based songs to textural electronic music on his 8th solo LP. Stevens, who\'s no stranger to taking on large-scale projects, builds on the synth-heavy soundscapes of his instrumental album with stepfather Lowell Brams, *Aporia*, while channeling the eccentric energy of his more experimental works *The Age of Adz* and *Enjoy Your Rabbit*. But *The Ascension* is its own powerful statement—throughout this 15-track, 80-minute spiritual odyssey, he uses faith as a foundation to articulate his worries about blind idolatry and toxic ideology. From soaring new age (“Tell Me You Love Me”) and warped lullabies (“Landslide”) to twitchy sound collages (“Ativan”), *The Ascension* is mercurial in mood but also aesthetically consistent. Stevens surrenders to heavenly bliss on “Gilgamesh,” singing in a choir-like voice as he dreams about a serene Garden of Eden before jarring, high-pitched bleeps bring him back to reality. On the post-apocalyptic “Death Star,” he pieces together kinetic dance grooves and industrial beats inspired by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ production work with Janet Jackson—which is no coincidence given that Stevens shared a photograph of his cassette copy of Jackson’s *Rhythm Nation 1814* on his blog. Stevens ultimately wishes to drown out all the outside noise on \"Ursa Major,\" echoing a sentiment that resonates regardless of what you believe: “Lord, I ask for patience now/Call off all of your invasion.”
Exhaustive, dense, and detailed, Sufjan Stevens’ electro-opus is another huge artistic leap that speaks plainly to complicated emotions and attempts to rebuild his sound from the ground up.
Sufjan Stevens' new album is a bloated and often beautiful portrait of political and emotional anxiety—one that longs for nothing more than to break away from the systems that brought us to this current moment.
Sufjan Stevens follows up 2015's 'Carrie & Lowell' with 'The Ascension', a record that takes issue with modernity over shimmering pop instrumentation
Sufjan Stevens uses The Ascension's expanse to explore the theological and the mortal
Most Sufjan Stevens fans will have a preferred style for the multi-instrumentalist from Detroit.
Not so much a call to arms as an exploration of the individual’s ability to disassociate from the norm.
Sufjan goes a little bit Pet Shop Boys on his first album since 2015's criticially acclaimed 'Carrie and Lowell'
Sufjan Stevens repeats that line like it's more a mantra than a chorus on "America," the 12-and-a-half-minute final track on his epic-scale 2020 album The Ascension.
Twenty years into Sufjan Stevens's catalogue, there's still no way to predict what he'll bring to the table next. His records, while always...
Give me a beat! Yes, you, Sufjan Stevens. Fans hoping to find the lolling acoustics of his last album 2016’s Carrie & Lowell might want to take a minute as he’s written an electronic album with programmed drum beats in a nod to Rhythm Nation—Janet J
Goodbye to all that, goes the Joan Didion essay about endings. Sufjan Stevens nods to it here, with a song named in its honour, chronicling his own escape
Comeback albums from two pioneers of American indie rock chime with the times in very different ways
Sufjan Stevens has set himself such a high standard that The Ascension struggles to match up to previous highlights, but it still has its moments
The album is only partially successful at maintaining the singer’s impeccable songwriting.
The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens album review by Adam Fink. The prolific singer/songwriter's New LP, drops on September 25th
Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension review: Have space suit -- will shit my pants 👨🚀
An ambitious protest record that takes his favourite theme – America – to the next level