Sufjan Stevens – “The Ascension” (September 25, 2020)

Let’s get digital, digital I wanna get digital, digital!

By Steve Forrest

Sufjan Stevens has been very busy giving us not one, but TWO full length LP’s this past year and I must say, I’ve been having a great time listening through both “The Ascension” and “Aporia”.

The digital direction these albums take fits the artist like a glove and proves that Sufjan is not only a prolific writer, but pliable one as well.

 “The Ascension” takes you on a strange journey with loads of textures and colours that hit your ears at warp speed and makes you feel as if you’re lost, floating somewhere in outer space. Reminiscent of Bjork, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, and plenty of 80’s sci fi, “The Ascension” is truly a work of art and does a terrific job of tackling digital tones without sounding too modern or sounding as if someone is just pushing play on a premade sample.

This album sounds organic as well. As if each part were hand crafted much like acoustic instrumentation and I’m really in love with a lot of the 80’s inspired keyboard and synth sounds, as well as the drum machines that are used in this album. The repetitive vocal hooks that get wedged in my head and refuse to leave hours later and something that is common with the writer, and with the soft dreamy touch of the production, “The Ascension” is a digital monument.

I would highly recommend this album to any electronic music lovers and it leaves me excited to hear what might come from Sufjan next.