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Hear Sufjan Stevens’ Auto-Tune Coo on Hip-Hop ‘Museum Day’

Sufjan Stevens / Photo by Denny Renshaw

Sufjan Stevens’ The Age of Adz is now a year and a half old, but the era of the Brooklyn singer-songwriter using Auto-Tune on his delicate, nuanced vocals isn’t over yet. “Museum Day,” which premiered on Pitchfork this morning, is the first taste of Stevens’ upcoming collaboration with Anticon hip-hop experimentalists Son Lux and Serengeti as s / s / s, and the most immediately striking aspect is the Illinois-harvester’s extended fling with robo-singing. From the March 20 Beak & Claw EP, the six-minute track also features classically trained composer Son Lux’s lush, swooping electro-acoustic production and Serengeti’s languid, conversational reminiscences on a field trip evidently spoiled by drugs. “I apologize for sloppy flow,” Serengeti murmurs gently. Stevens is unapologetic, as adventurous as ever, and, to hear him tell it, getting better all the time: “I am recovering,” he repeats, as boisterous organic drum beats pile up against chorale backing. If Stevens is still pursuing a record for every state, file this one under “altered.”