Sufjan Stevens

Everyone who is reading this blog probably knows about Sufjan Stevens.  His earlier state-themed albums "Illinoise" and "Michigan" were massively popular and ground-breaking, and "Seven Swans" was exceptionally good.  Many of Sufjan's loyal fans were initially intrigued with the new, more electronic direction that his music started to take with his EPs "All Delighted People" and especially "the BQE", then his LP "The Age of Adz", but it as the years went on and his music grew less and less melodic and more abstract, I think a lot of people checked out and stopped following what he was doing.  In this context, Sufjan recently released a new album "Carrie & Lowell", which is sort of a memorial for his mother who died in 2012.  The musical style is polar opposite to the Age of Adz; it's generally acoustic guitar and piano.  The guitar riffs and the melodies are extremely simple, but unbelievably compelling and powerful.  It's a super dark album, and fundamentally depressing, but the musical skill and genius behind it is just unbelievable.  It's the best album I've heard in a long time.  If you haven't yet heard it, by all means buy it.  Apparently Sufjan is going on a limited tour with this release, too.