Sufjan Stevens has premiered the 12-minute-plus America after confirming his eighth solo album for release later this year.
Whilst this track introduces The Ascension, it will close out Stevens’ follow-up to Carrie & Lowell when it hits the shelves on September 25th, and is a track which he’s said left him ‘dumbfounded’ when he first wrote it. “Because it felt vaguely mean-spirited and miles away from everything else on Carrie & Lowell,” Stevens explained. “So I shelved it.”
“But when I dug up the demo a few years later I was shocked by its prescience. I could no longer dismiss it as angry and glib. The song was clearly articulating something prophetic and true, even if I hadn’t been able to identify it at the time. That’s when I saw a clear path toward what I had to do next.”
The Ascension tracklist:
Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse
Run Away With Me
Video Game
Lamentations
Tell Me You Love Me
Die Happy
Ativan
Ursa Major
Landslide
Gilgamesh
Death Star
Goodbye To All That
Sugar
The Ascension
America