All Delighted People (Sufjan Stevens)
August 21, 2010
Indie phenom Sufjan Stevens comes up empty with his newest philanthropically marketed EP “All Delighted People.” The record was elf-released on his very own Asthmatic Kitty Records today (Aug. 20th, 2010), and is available for a $5 download.
The title track is an 11 minute and thirty eight second epic that deals an orchestrally shaking and vocally shrill blow to the ears. Sufjan is very bold to go with a sound like that, and it works. But the tracks following it will likely hold little appeal for the general public.
Still, i got to hand it to him: apocalyptically driven semi-classically-instrumented folk-rock is definitely one of the most out-of-style genres. In general, whatever is most strange and unpopular is more accepted by Sufjan’s fans. This may prove to be no exception, but that still doesn’t make this album any more bearable.
Don’t believe that the relatively un-proclaimed king of indiefolk has dropped one? Have a listen. The entire record is streaming here.
The record was elf-released? Has he made a deal with Santa? Or is this under the table elf work?