SUFJAN STEVENS

JAMES MCNAIR

THE AGE OF ADZ (Asthmatic Kitty, 2010) Sufjan Stevens’ sixth studio LP proper was always going to be tricky. Having earlier vowed to write a series of 50 albums themed around each of the USA’s 50 states, Stevens now confessed that the conceit had been a “promotional gimmick.” True, he’d gotten as far as 2003’s Michigan and his brilliant 2005 chamber pop breakthrough Illinois, but now he was ditching the project. There would be no baroque Arkansas, no folky, banjo and brass-imbued Utah. Instead, we got The Age Of Adz – something else entirely. Artistically, Stevens was shape-shifting. He was also having a “wobble” and needed to re-set. His 2006 outtakes LP, The Avalanche, and that same year’s festive covers set, Songs For Christmas, were decent but stopgap releases, while…

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Prog Italia (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 155

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