The Ascension is the eighth solo studio album to be released under Sufjan Stevens, a well known darling of the indie music genre with glassy vocals and a penchant for folk sounds. His first album since the esteemed release of Carrie & Lowell back in 2015, Stevens has almost completely reconstructed his sound without so much as an introduction. Shifting towards more soft electronics and baroque pop, this unique transposition will come as an oddly pleasant surprise for longtime fans and brand new listeners.
This release is different from anything else Stevens has produced in his last 20 years as an artist. Having traded in his characteristic love for acoustic guitars and banjos for a drum machine and several synthesizers, Stevens seamlessly delivers a 90s-esque electronica pop bedroom symphony that breathes new life into his discography. The album is entirely composed of laptop beats and pre-recordings of the singer’s vocals, simple and yet all-encompassing.
After the arduously revealing process of writing and releasing Carrie & Lowell, an intimate album that uncovered Stevens’ childhood memories and vivid trauma surrounding his mother, the subject matter of The Ascension is less personal and more universal: spiritual undertones, humanity and its flaws, and an anxious look to the future plagues the quarantine album from top to bottom.
“Video Game”, the second single off of the album, incorporates pop echoes and the soft vocalizations of Stevens in a hypnotic, upbeat rhythm that still manages to hold melancholy in between. Emotional undertones are one of Stevens’ trademarks, however, so the urge to reminisce for simpler times while listening is commonly found. The titular track of the album, “The Ascension”, largely focuses on the sweet and sometimes haunting quality of Stevens’ voice, with little besides backing vocals and a gentle progression in the same echoes from before. This is probably his most lyrically rich addition to The Ascension, which breaks up some of the more repetitive songs present on the album.
In its entirety, The Ascension is a versatile listen. Chalked full of slow jams and dance floor compositions alike, the steady ins and outs of the tracklist drum up eager attention and sensitivity in response. Despite being heavily detailed and dense with emotion, there is still a weightlessness that makes spacing out and listening to the album in passing just as enjoyable. With the lovely packaging and careful delivery of new sounds shaped by mind and machine, this album harbors the feelings of a fresh start in Stevens’ lasting music career, even though he didn’t exactly need one.
Loading ...