Sufjan Stevens

Carrie & Lowell

Sufjan Stevens returns to his folk roots with Carrie & Lowell an album inspired by life, death, love and loss and named after his parents

Carrie & Lowell sounds like memory: it spans decades yet does not trade on pastiche or nostalgia. Each track in this collection of eleven songs begins with a fragile melody that gathers steam until it becomes nothing less than a modern hymn. Sufjan recounts the indignities of our world, of technological distraction and sad sex, of an age without neither myths nor miracle—and this time around, his voice carries the burden of wisdom. Carrie & Lowell accomplishes the rare thing that any art should achieve, particularly in these noisy and fragmented days: By seeking to understand, Sufjan makes us feel less alone.