record review: Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People (EP)

Last year, Sufjan Stevens released the BQE, a musical ode to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. I enjoyed the album thoroughly, but it threw me off a little, being instrumental and all. A couple of the tracks reminded me strongly of Christmas, but, like my fellow music bloggers, I happened to forget to post about the album.

As of last week, however, Sufjan is back, and he has once again taken the world by storm. His new self-produced EP, All Delighted People, seems to have risen out of nowhere, but how can anybody complain when it sounds like Simon & Garfunkel through a brass section lens? I don’t understand how he has released it under the guise of an EP; the eight track album is just shy of an hour, and includes an LP worthy 17 minute closer ("Djohariah") which would have Pink Floyd reeling. This time around, Sufjan’s gorgeous vocals continue to relay his commitment to spirituality, but also incorporate Flaming Lips-esque weirdness before they plunge back into softly plucked banjo interludes. It’s simple, it’s beautiful, it’s eccentric and even borders freakish. But in the end, we need guys like Sufjan to remind us of the simple joys of looking through a kaleidoscope. It sure beats watching Rivers Cuomo go through a mid-life crisis.
4.2/5

Sufjan Stevens - Enchanting Ghost [mp3]