Nothing more I expect from a critic. The 11 songs on Carrie & Lowell featured multiple backup singers and instrumentalists, but they retained an almost voyeuristic sense of intimacy, exploring the ways death affects our lives. All rights reserved. Quite a handful." LB: Well, I don't know about heroic but...when his mother and I split up it was, it seemed to me that it was unlikely that he and his brothers and sisters were going to get to spend a lot of time with her after that. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Your California Privacy Rights. I’d already known her for 12 years before we got married. But, to try to go back answer part of your question, no I don't think it's really changed how I think about our marriage. This is not my art project; this is my life. And it's gratifying he appreciated it. Well, the films of his mother, that's kind of hard for me to take. Carrie & Lowell sounds like memory: it spans decades yet does not trade on pastiche or nostalgia. Because I would have heard about it, but I guess it happened somewhere else. The effect is somewhat jarring: taking a record that thrived on simplicity and adorning it with glowsticks. 93. L'album a reçu un très bon accueil, de nombreux critiques le considérant comme le meilleur album de Sufjan Stevens. That's the way it is. Pitchfork is the most trusted voice in music. On Carrie & Lowell, tracks segued into each other with haunted anti-solos: ghosting away to reveal one isolated melody or instrument. It's a strange experience. But it wasn’t a simple tribute. That moment transforms on Carrie & Lowell Live, an audiovisual document from the South Carolina stop of the album’s tour. Gonna keep doing that. To have an album that's been successful in every way. Không giống như album phòng thu nhạc điện tử trước đó The Age of Adz, rải rác một số phần trong Carrie & Lowell được trình bày hoàn toàn bằng các nhạc khí. So the album comes out, and here in our office every time I turn around I'm seeing this photo of the two of us, his mother and me, and that has been a little difficult. That's childish, tbh (unless it was sarcasm). I'm proud of pretty much everything we've put out. Score. View reviews, ratings, news & more regarding your favorite band. Carrie & Lowell is, most intimately, an album about Stevens’ grief in the wake of losing his estranged mother to stomach cancer in 2012. Carrie & Lowell Live—while highlighting the starkest, saddest songs Stevens has ever written—reflects that side of his personality like no other release. альбомных эквивалентных единиц; из них 51 тыс. The emotional core of the record came at the end of a song called “Fourth of July.” As the music faded around him, Stevens sounded alone and inconsolable, repeating a simple truth: “We’re all gonna die.”. The Ascension is the eighth studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens and is the long awaited follow-up to Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell. The Adz songs sound surprisingly at home alongside Carrie & Lowell’s more autobiographical material, and not just because of the new synth makeovers. It was a while before I could listen to it without crying. After 15 years of translating his personal phantasmagorias through various ambitious musical styles, Sufjan Stevens does away with all of the pomp on Carrie & Lowell… Carrie & Lowell sounds like memory: it spans decades yet does not trade on pastiche or nostalgia. *Carrie & Lowell* is a return to the stripped-back folk of *Seven Swans*, but with a decade's worth of refinement and exploration packed into it. Most of the time. Stevens’s new album, Carrie and Lowell, which debuted last Tuesday, was named best new music by Pitchfork shortly after he was compared to theologian Francis Schaeffer in the Atlantic.Few self-proclaimed Christian artists have achieved such secular popularity and recognition for their faith as Stevens. And then I sort of stopped crying. And so it's a nice note to go out on. People were getting very emotional, so I can imagine if the songs are actually written about you, it must be a complicated thing. Pitchfork: Has hearing the album maybe brought any memories back? Documenting the South Carolina stop of the Carrie & Lowell tour, this audiovisual album takes a record that thrived on simplicity and adorns it with glowsticks, but each track retains a subtle beauty. And most confusing for Sufjan because he was the youngest. It happened the way it happened and it was too bad. The tour began in the spring of 2015. Maybe I'll set it up here in the office. The album garnered critical acclaim upon its release. But after Lowell entered the picture, Carrie reconnected with her kids, and he seemed to provide Stevens and his siblings with the most stable times of their childhood, especially three summers they spent together with he and Carrie in Eugene, Oregon. summed up critical consensus as 8.8 out of 10, based on 43 reviews. Sufjan Stevens recently announced Carrie & Lowell, the follow-up to 2010's The Age of Adz.Steven's label Asthmatic Kitty put together an explainer … So we've talked about that. A hushed, intent Sufjan Stevens contemplates death, grief, family and memory on his quietly moving new album, “Carrie & Lowell,” in songs that … This transformation underscores the difference between Stevens’ records and his shows. Carrie & Lowell , his most challenging album yet, captures the subtle reality of loss. And the first time or two I cried as well. LB: Oh yeah. During the performance, Stevens rarely addresses the audience; instead he mimics the record’s seamless flow and lets his songs speak for themselves. I found it touching that, years after Carrie’s death, and the end of his marriage to her, he wanted to make sure I knew she wasn’t a bad person. March 31, 2015. He's said in interviews that the person listed as the co-producer, Thomas Bartlett, sort of came up with the idea after hearing a lot of material that Sufjan had recorded. It ended up oddly that I moved from Oregon and ended up in Michigan in the lower part of the state, and they were in the upper part, but it wasn't that hard to visit. And have kids and all. Carrie & Lowell is his outlet, his unread letter to his mother who did her best to raise him by not being the one to raise him, and Lowell – a stepfather who filled the largely vacant parental shoes. So, the album helped confirm that I did something right there. And to have that link to it. And touches on emotions that are still pretty raw, during some of the songs that are most specifically about his mother. Album of the Year surveyed 42 critics and gave Carrie & Lowell a 90 out of 100, making it the third-best reviewed album of the year; AnyDecentMusic? You know, he was very young and it was really confusing. The folk singer’s seventh studio album sees him come to terms with the death of his mother Carrie in 2012. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. He's with his mother, and then he's not with his mother, and then he’s with his mother again with me, and then that changes. Pitchfork: Has the album changed your relationship with Sufjan at all? I've learned if I'm questioning his creative choices, it later turns out I was wrong. But as far as what the songs are about, to me, it's kind of self-explanatory. Pitchfork: You're going to build a studio around you so you don't have to go to New York all of the time? To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. And then on her death, it just all came back to him. There are so many universal themes on the album. Those things—and just taking care of myself. Lowell Brams was married to Sufjan Stevens’ mother, Carrie, for five years in the early 1980s. But it's all outweighed by the fact that the album is so good, and has been well-received. And asked me if it was okay with me. So I'm going to take care of myself, too. In “Vesuvius,” Stevens refers to himself in the third person (“Sufjan, follow your heart/Follow the flame or fall on the floor”), and it feels like a pep talk: a reminder that there’s more ground to cover, more life to live. We've had a lot of success, and artistically I think we've been a 99% success. But the record is also inextricably tied to memory in a … And as far as how I think about Carrie, maybe, the one downside to it is that, here in our office where we do our shipping, part of the album coming out—photos of her were something that I saw once in awhile when I looked through my [photo] albums. It was something we really thought would work but ultimately it didn't. Stevens once made an important distinction between Carrie & Lowell and his earlier work, stating, “This is not my art project; this is my life.” The live album feels a lot more like an art project—especially the film accompaniment, with its psychedelic light show and collage-like projections of home videos. It’s exaggerated, but pain is an exaggerated feeling. Hopefully it proves as rewarding to the singer as it is for his audience. That's a real long answer to what really the answer is no. Carrie & Lowell, like music from emo's golden era, basks in the purity of pain, and can’t help but crumble under the slightest weight. Stevens mostly shied away from seeking resolution, instead focusing on the shame, regret, and loneliness that can accompany grief. Pitchfork: When you go to see him perform live, is it difficult, or at this point have you spent enough time with the record? “All of Me Wants All of You” and “Carrie & Lowell” are both embellished with long, spacey synth solos, while “Blue Bucket of Gold” gets its own 18-minute reprise. Metacritic, el cual asignó un índice normalizado sobre la base de revisiones de 100 críticos especializados de música, le otorgó una puntuación media de 90. And we talked about the album, but more in terms just in how it came about. Carrie & Lowell là album phòng thu thứ bảy của nam nhạc sĩ người Mỹ Sufjan Stevens.Album được phát hành thông qua Asthmatic Kitty vào ngày 31 tháng 3 năm 2015. Lowell Brams was married to Sufjan Stevens’ mother, Carrie, for five years in the early 1980s. But he’s surrounded by friends, and he’s enjoying himself. Carrie & Lowell est le septième album studio de Sufjan Stevens, paru le 31 mars 2015 sous le label Asthmatic Kitty Records [12].Cet album marque un retour de l'artiste à ses racines folk. And try to make some more electronic music without having to go to Sufjan's studio in New York. As far as what refers to his summers in Oregon with his mother and me, like I said, I didn't really need to ask him about that even if I'm not totally sure what he means. Or when you think back, has it changed the way you think of your time with Carrie? Inside Carrie & Lowell, which features lyrics steeped in imagery from Eugene, there’s a photo of Carrie crocheting. In Sufjan Stevens’ 2015 album Carrie and Lowell, however, this feeling is genuine. But I survived. But of course I didn't know about everything on there. Stevens played over 100 … Lowell Brams: No, I don't think I've forgotten that much about the summers he and his siblings stayed with us. Carrie & Lowell (Music CD) : Stevens, Sufjan. I really thought I’d be able to retire when I was 70, that I was just going to zoom on through, but health issues came up and I can't do that. They're all grown up now. And I've got enough books that I want to read that it'll take me another lifetime. It was the second-best rated album of 2015 on the site. And I said yes it was. And having seen the reviews, and having been at five of the shows where he played the entire album, it's clear that it's something that really reaches people, going beyond his personal story. But it’s a testament to Stevens’ songwriting that each track retains its subtlety and beauty in this context. One of the most acclaimed albums of 2015, The New York Times praised Carrie & Lowell as “restrained and meticulous” while Pitchfork declared it … On the live album, Stevens takes the opposite approach, expanding and amplifying every moment. The tour supported his seventh studio album, Carrie & Lowell (2015). And their father and stepmother were very gracious and always allowed me to visit. At the end of his set, he’s no closer to finding peace or answering the questions that torment him throughout these songs. The label’s been an incredible experience but also a burn out. But it also makes people cry who didn't know his mother. “I got so little pleasure out of writing and recording the album that I feel like I’m due some enjoyment,” Sufjan Stevens said before embarking on the full-band tour behind his heartbreaking 2015 record Carrie & Lowell. Pitchfork may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Carrie & Lowell Tour (2015-16) The Carrie & Lowell Tour was the sixth concert tour by American recording artist Sufjan Stevens. The Carrie & Lowell tour highlighted the album’s unique place in his catalog, featuring every song from the record and only a small sampling of earlier material. Carrie & Lowell дебютировал на 10-м месте в американском хит-параде Billboard 200 с тиражом 53 тыс. Pitchfork's Best Folk Albums of the 2010s. So there’ve been disappointments, but artistically it's been great and I'm really proud of it, what the label’s released. Was it something you were aware was happening and have you talked about it since? If not quite a happy ending, it’s at least a cathartic one—his mantra now backed by pummeling drums and a chorus of voices. And, you know, it’s not something I really had to think about too much. I learned that some time ago, so, you know, I thought, Okay. I don't know. As the press blurb for that release reads, "Lowell Brams was raised in West Alexandria and Dayton, Ohio. He met Sufjan Stevens in Detroit, Michigan, in 1976, but Sufjan was eleven months old and doesn’t remember it. This release received a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 40 reviews. Carrie & Lowell is a demonstration of why Stevens sings songs, of why we listen to songs: to feel less alone, to make sense of the things that are hardest to make sense of. I know they all appreciated it. Pitchfork: It must be satisfying to be spoken of so fondly by Sufjan in interviews, and to be a heroic figure on the record. LB: It is. Carrie suffered from schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and alcoholism, and she abandoned her son when he was a year old. Shortly after its publication, I received a note from Brams, who wanted to make sure I knew that Carrie’s eyes weren’t on her son “because there were three other kids under 10 years old at the table. I'm turning 65 next March, and I'm in the process of trying to retire from day to day work at the label. I'm proud to be associated with it, even though it's not my music. I've gone and seen him perform it live, and the guy next to me was crying. That special link. Those additions are whittled down further here to just an interstitial track from Michigan—the wordless “Redford (For Yia-Yia and Pappou),” used as an intro—and two selections from 2010’s dystopian, electronic opus The Age of Adz. Brams answered the phone at Asthmatic Kitty’s Wyoming office when I called to talk to him about Carrie & Lowell last month. But it was a confusing time for them. Pitchfork's Best Folk Albums of the 2010s. The wispy pedal steel coda to “Death With Dignity” is sung in unison by his whole band with the force of a prayer, while the second half of “Should Have Known Better”—a chintzy keyboard melody on the record—gets turned into an escalating anthem with a round of vocalists. © 2021 Condé Nast. After Lowell and Sufjan’s mother married, they re-met in 1980 in Eugene, Oregon, have been friends since then.". Carrie and Lowell is probably my all time favourite album but his reasoning is fair within the context of his usual opinions and he approached it in a respectful way. I understand what he's talking about. But it was, it never ceases to be, reaching very deep. And you can't really change anybody's mind; you just offer it and see what happens. So we've been in close touch, it hasn't really changed anything. It honestly couldn’t be better worded than Sufjan Stevens’ own summation: “This is not my art project; this is my life.” Carrie & Lowell sounds like memory: it spans decades yet does not trade on pastiche or nostalgia. On stage, he’ll dress up his band as cheerleaders and strap a giant pair of wings on his back; he’ll take dancing cues from Justin Bieber and cover a hit song by Drake. Plus, seven really is a good score. ... Wikipedia :: "The album met with critical acclaim, receiving a 9.3 from Pitchfork under "best new music," and an initial score of 90 from Metacritic. But, hell, we tried. LB: No I don't think it has really. Carrie & Lowell recibió buenas críticas desde su lanzamiento. LB: We, no we didn't talk about it when he was working on it. Carrie & Lowell was released on March 31, 2015. She dealt with depression, schizophrenia, and alcoholism throughout her life, and initially abandoned Stevens’ family when he was one. View reviews, ratings, news & more regarding your favorite band. Stevens wrote Carrie & Lowell in the wake of grief after losing his mother. I didn't really know what he was working on as far as his next album. In my review of Carrie & Lowell, I reflected on another photo in the liner notes depicting a young Sufjan eating a banana, and noted that Carrie’s eyes aren’t on him: "She's not looking at him, but she's there...It's a haunting feeling that this little kid, years later, would create a masterpiece so knowing about suffering, sadness, death, and loneliness." -=-=-=-As a testament to his ongoing relationship with his stepson, Brams co-founded Asthmatic Kitty in 1998, and the two have recorded electronic music together, like on 2009’s Music for Insomnia. Here, Stevens lets the outro of “Fourth of July” build instead of dissipate. Yet Carrie & Lowell nonetheless offers a beautiful, tragic, poignant testimony to the profound impact a mother has on the lives of her children. As he explained in his excellent recent interview with Pitchfork, Sufjan and his mother only spent a handful of years together, totaling to the one year after his birth and three summers in Oregon from the age of 5 to 8, when she was briefly married to Lowell Brams. You see the reflection of Lowell in a mirror, holding a camera: He has this gentle, observant, slightly out of the frame presence on the record, too. It's great recording with him but I have to go to New York to do it. Despite its austerity, Sufjan Stevens’ 2015 album Carrie & Lowell aligns more neatly with its immediate predecessors—the synth phantasmagoria of The Age … So there wasn't anything I had forgotten. LB: Well, we’ll set something up in whatever space I can find in the house. It's just beautifully done, too. One of his only remarks arrives during the closing rendition of “Hotline Bling” with singer/songwriter Gallant, and it’s a simple bit of levity (“Let me see your best Drake impression,” Stevens says, “Something like this...”). But then I went to New York, and I think that's when we were finishing up another electronic noise album that we had been working on off and on for about five years. ... Pitchfork. Documenting the South Carolina stop of the Carrie & Lowell tour, this audiovisual album takes a record that thrived on simplicity and adorns it with glowsticks, but each track retains a … En su revisión para Pitchfork, el escritor Brandon Stosuy escribió, "El nuevo disco de Sufjan Stevens', Carrie & Lowell, es su mejor álbum." Sufjan and I have obviously been working together on the label since ’98. No, haven't really talked to him about the content. Pitchfork: What are your plans after retirement? ... Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell. Those are very vivid memories and the best memories from a marriage that ultimately didn't work out. But also fulfilling. LB: Read and write. Carrie & Lowell Lyrics: 3, 4 / Carrie and Lowell / Such a long time ago / Like a dead horse / Meadowlark, drive your arrow / Season of hope (after the flood) / … But that's the business. You're very hopeful that a particular artist is going to catch on or a particular album and it doesn't happen. Carrie & Lowell was his memorial for his mother, who died in 2012. pitchfork.com Carrie & Lowell “Futile Devices” arrives near the end of the set and adds an element of desperation to Stevens’ struggles to express his feelings, recounting memories of sleeping on couches and watching a loved one crochet. And hope to do some writing, too. And I wanted to be a connection for them to her. So I just wanted to be a part of their life; it was heartbreaking that those times that they spent with us couldn't continue, and heartbreaking that it didn't seem they weren't going to be able to spend much time with her, and she was not going to be in a situation when she was with me where she could have them sometimes. Do you remember how they were projecting films in the back, and other things? Ad Choices, Lowell Brams Discusses Sufjan Stevens' Album About His Life, A daily roundup of the most important stories in music. He told me about the album, and his idea of you know using the title and the photograph. [On the album] he mentions being left in a video store, that I never heard about before, and I'm pretty certain it did not happen when they were visiting us. I understood immediately that here was something, there was going to be a little light shined on part of my life that was private, and just shared with a few people including him and his siblings and some other relatives of his mother's, and that it was his creative choice. While even his most elaborate albums feel hushed and solitary, his concerts are communal experiences. It’s just as good as anything he's ever done. Maybe in Detroit [where Stevens grew up]. Official full album stream of Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens. Pitchfork: Did Sufjan talk to you about the album as he was working on it? In 2020, Consequence of Soundranked several of Stev… If Francis Schaeffer was alive today, Sufjan Stevens would make him very proud. Carrie & Lowell was met with universal acclaim reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. But, I'm sure you know enough about it: It's hard. This juxtaposition makes it a compelling listen and a fitting companion to a deep, multifaceted record.