The Greatest Gift

The hushed, acoustic textures of Stevens\' 2015 album, *Carrie & Lowell*, marked his return to indie folk. *The Greatest Gift* offers *Carrie & Lowell* remixes, demos, and outtakes that simultaneously illuminate the album\'s genesis and create a parallel-universe version. As fascinating as it is to hear a fragile, acoustic-based track like \"Drawn to the Blood\" reimagined with sweeping, pulsing electronic textures, it\'s equally intriguing to encounter spare, unvarnished demos of \"John My Beloved\" and \"Carrie & Lowell,\" not to mention outtakes that stand tall alongside the original cuts.