Albums of The Year # 2 Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension

 

Sufjan Stevens is one of the most interesting and important musicians the 21st Century has had to offer. Genuinely brave, visionary and continually forging forward, to heights that many others aspire to, but precious few can dream of achieving to the remarkable degree that he does.

His album this year, The Ascension, was slightly divisive. It was ignored, or virtually ignored, in many countdowns, when Sufjan would generally expect Top Five status from most quarters at the end of years in which he's released records. I myself would probably have not paid it much heed as what I heard at the time of its release seemed fragmentary and not wholly attention grabbing at first.

Fortunately my sister, who often knows best in these matters, was good enough to send me a vinyl copy for my birthday at the end of September, and the album unwrapped its charms to me over the coming weeks and months. I still don't know it very well, a lot of its melodies still seem gossamar and slightly elusive in terms of texture and shape. But I do know now that it's a formidable product indeed.

I'd argue that the vinyl format is probably how The Ascension really needs to be heard. Listening to it now on headphones, it doesn't seem quite as entrancing as it always does in the comfort of my flat, where it twists and swells and comes to encompass the entire space that I live in in an utterly majestic and awe inspiring manner that it's almost impossible for me to describe. On this year of all years, that has been a quite glorious experience that I've been continually grateful for.

I won't bother to attempt to discuss the record's subject matter and what I think it has to say. I'll leave this to music critics. But I would suggest that The Ascension may come to be re-assessed as one of Stevens' finest records of all a few years down the line. It's another incredible statement from an artist who has made no end of them over the course of his career, leading me to draw three major conclusions.

Don't write off Sufjan Stevens. He may still have a considerable amount to say. Always hear an album by a great musical artist on vinyl if you can before you write it off entirely. And always listen to your sister. She may know better than you.