Sufjan Stevens
'All Delighted People '
History, social problems, and serial-killer clowns have inspired many of pillow-voiced singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens' efforts to date, but now, five years after his last vocal record, he meditates on the notion—native to his own Christianity but not exclusive to it—that this earthly stuff is all just a distraction. The 11-minute title track ("…(Original Version)") features Stevens desperately trying to zone out the world's catastrophes as a fluttering, workshop arrangement repeatedly crumbles and reassembles, while the folk amble "Arnika" has Stevens sighing that he's "tired of life"—and then apologizing. All Delighted People documents his struggle between fealty to the here-and-now and preparing for the hereafter; accordingly, it's unwieldy, schizophrenic, and frequently devastating.
