alternative · indie folk · art pop · chamber pop

Sufjan Stevens

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Songwriter who moves between banjo whispers and full orchestral electronics, from Illinois to the bare grief of Carrie & Lowell.

Sufjan Stevens grew up in Michigan and recorded Michigan and Illinois as part of a stated plan to write an album for every American state, an idea he later described as a joke he had not expected anyone to take literally. Those records used banjo, trumpets, choirs and long descriptive song titles.

The Age of Adz turned sharply toward drum machines and processed vocals, while Carrie & Lowell, written after his mother's death, stripped things back to guitar and close-miked singing. He has also made collaborative instrumental and electronic records, including Planetarium with Nico Muhly and Bryce Dessner, and wrote songs for the film Call Me by Your Name.

alternativeindie folkart popchamber popsinger-songwriter