Sufjan Stevens’ newest album, The Age of Adz, is a remarkable departure from his previous ventures, and is quite possibly the most magnificent musical piece of work this year as seen. Burgeoning electronics and sweeping percussion dominate the album’s landscape. The result is a mood that quite often envelopes the listener in a controlled cacophony, as Stevens espouses a dark variety of emotions and torments that his earlier, callow albums lack. “Futile Devices” provides a telling prologue to the journey, its sounds is more reminiscent of the tracks on Seven Swans, soothing and delicate. Yet there is something more deeply personal, immediately regretful taking place here, as Stevens softly sings “It’s been a long, long time / Since I’ve memorized your face / It’s been four hours now / Since I wandered through your place.” Nostalgic in the highest sense of the word, and embeded with pains of loss and words not spoken, the track closes with Stevens’ voice barely above a whisper, “Words are futile devices.”
Musically, the album builds and grows from that point, synthesizers and electronica supplant softly plucked guitars. Seemingly devoid of traditional arrangement at times, eyes close and ears force themselves to listen closely to the dissonance that paints a panorama of turmoil and uncertainty, but ultimately recognition of certainty and direction manifests. As he is wont to do, Stevens The Age of Adz is linked together under the umbrella of a unified concept. He draws a great deal of inspiration from the life of artist Royal Robertson, a paranoid schizophrenic, including the albums exquisite artwork. Paralleling Robertson’s struggles, the album is fraught with Stevens own brooding and emotional introspection. The orchestration and layered sounds that have become Stevens forte are present, albeit of a darker strain. On “Too Much,” he bemoans his own shortcomings, calling out: “If I had been a different man, if I had blood in my eyes / I could have read of your heart, I could have read of your mind,” as the trill of the arrangement climbs towards crescendo. “I Walked,” “Now That I’m Older,” and “Bad Communication” each further a focus on past relationships that have crumbled and Stevens’ own path toward maturity.
Musically, the album builds and grows from that point, synthesizers and electronica supplant softly plucked guitars. Seemingly devoid of traditional arrangement at times, eyes close and ears force themselves to listen closely to the dissonance that paints a panorama of turmoil and uncertainty, but ultimately recognition of certainty and direction manifests. As he is wont to do, Stevens The Age of Adz is linked together under the umbrella of a unified concept. He draws a great deal of inspiration from the life of artist Royal Robertson, a paranoid schizophrenic, including the albums exquisite artwork. Paralleling Robertson’s struggles, the album is fraught with Stevens own brooding and emotional introspection. The orchestration and layered sounds that have become Stevens forte are present, albeit of a darker strain. On “Too Much,” he bemoans his own shortcomings, calling out: “If I had been a different man, if I had blood in my eyes / I could have read of your heart, I could have read of your mind,” as the trill of the arrangement climbs towards crescendo. “I Walked,” “Now That I’m Older,” and “Bad Communication” each further a focus on past relationships that have crumbled and Stevens’ own path toward maturity.
Taboo and uncomfortable are words that our society has placed on publicly discussing one’s grappling with personal spirituality. However, leaving no aspect of his conscience reticent, Stevens underlines his own struggles with embracing Christianity. He does not do so to propagate his beliefs loudly, nor to invoke sympathy, it serves only to further unveil and unravel the depths of his psyche. “Get Real Get Right” offers up Christianity as Stevens own path toward living well, “I know I’ve caused you trouble / I know I’ve caused you pain / But I must do the right thing / I must do myself a favor and get real / Get right with the Lord.” This inward contention to find peace is illustrated again on “Vesuvius,” as bubbling electronics swell about, Stevens and a chorus of voices call out: “Vesuvius / Fire of fire / Follow me now / As I favor the ghost.”
The separation between The Age of Adz and Stevens’ past albums is no more apparent that on the penultimate track “I Want to Be Well.” An admission of weighty personal struggles, and the inability to push himself away from the relationships that have scarred his past, Stevens echoes the sentiment that all he yearns for is peace, repeating over and again “I want to be well.” He comes to the precipice of losing all control of his emotions, crying out incessantly with determination: “I’m not fucking around / I’m not, I’m not, I’m not fucking around.” It is perhaps the greatest departure from past works where the better part of each step was well-calculated and heavily choreographed. The Age of Adz finds Sufjan Stevens struggling with his conscious, a depth of contemplative emotions, the good and the malicious, that inhabit every crevasse of his being, judging a life of relationships, and finding the strength to mature and inch himself forward. It is a place he has found himself confronted with before, “On the floor at the great divide / With my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied / I am crying in the bathroom,” but only at thirty-five do all the pieces begin to fit.
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