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Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Album (Come On Feel The) Illinoise
In a messed up world, honesty of vision and clarity of word are enviable qualities. For Sufjan Stevens, currently two albums into a 50 state project, they are second nature. With several albums already under his relatively youthful belt, including his state related debut 'Michigan', a tremendous amount of musical terrain has already been covered in his own unique post-pop troubadour stylings. Which is where '(Come On Feel The) Illinoise' comes in. For anyone unfamiliar with Sufjan, the long song titles, enchanted folk-pop arrangements, silky theatrical vocals and seemingly endless geo-cultural references, may come across as overly pretentious. But give yourself time to allow the tracks to sail, and sink, and resurface, and suddenly the whole thing becomes one of the most beautiful melody laden pastoral/urbane masterpieces that you will have ever discovered.
From the sparse opening piano of 'Concerning the UFO Sighting near Highland, Illinois' recalling Radiohead soundtracking a wistful dusk, through to the chirping, chiming, droning heaven-ward arc of 'Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from my Sandals as I run', the instruments, stories and ideas constantly shift direction as you pass through Sufjan's tunefully crafted reflection of this great American state. Not only is this one of the most potent collections of songs released this year, it also incorporates some equally impressive instrumental gaps, and so the track following the aforementioned opener makes for a compellingly colourful bridge to the title track, which itself restates an abundance of classic hooks into a twistingly twee orchestral anthem moving from playful strings to joyous horns and remerging with a whole warehouse of instrumentation before the second part glides to a rest on the angelic refrain of 'Even in his heart the Devil, Has to know the water level, Are you writing from the heart?, Are you writing from the heart?'.
The social relevance of this ambitious music is cemented on perhaps the most simplistic yet affecting track, 'John Wayne Gacy, Jr.', where the dueling piano and guitar eventually make way for the near whispered revelatory conclusion on the notorious serial killer, 'And in my best behaviour, I am really just like him, Look beneath the floorboards, For the secrets I have hid'. But lingering sombre emotions are washed away as frequently as they are deposited by the changing tides of the subsequent tracks, and on 'Jacksonville' and 'Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!' Stevens' reappears as an upbeat tour guide of a spiritually charged region over an intricately spun backdrop of lilting sound. Upon our arrival at 'Chicago', the delicate narration is caught in a swell of euphoric surging noise that eventually releases the melody to the warming nostalgia of 'If I was crying, In the van with my friend, It was for freedom, From myself and from the land, I made a lot of mistakes...', and before it finally breaks, the enrapturous tidal wave of other worldly art-folk retakes the song into rock-opera territory again.
This lush but unfamiliar landscape unfolds further on 'Casimir Pulaski Day' where a heartbreaking winter lament skips over shimmering banjo and carefree trumpets, with the movement eventually sauntering into the deceptively distorted intro of 'The Man of Metropolis Steals our Hearts' which marries serene passages recounting tales of industrial progress with a swirling driven choral chant of 'Only a steel man can be a lover, If he had hands to tremble all over, We celebrate our sense of each other, We have a lot to give one another'.
As the strangely intoxicating road map hymns continue on, we are firmly rewarded by the 'The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us', that somewhat captures the natural culmination of Sufjan's songwriting ability into an irresistible indescribable indisputable essentially modern take on innocent love, that lifts from a soft summer morning stroll to a gracefully executed waltzing folk-pop bombast before the inevitable emotional return to the tranquil truths of the original earthly resonance. This song pulls at just about every string I have, which makes the transition to 'They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbours!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!' all the more unexpected. Here the Illinoisemakers perpetuate a decidedly dark progression behind Sufjan's foreboding vocals in-between the rich but uneasy choral incantations and stringed riffs of suspense. With the atmospheric contemplation of 'The Seer's Tower' and the monumental celebration of 'The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders', this expansive world of inspired/inspirational music, draws to a finale, and I was left feeling that while only one man can comprehend its creation, we can all appreciate its beautiful and hidden treasures and antiquities.
It's hard to summarise what this album is, or what it means, but beyond the broad indications given above, it is suffice to say that this is one of those genuine cases where it should be arrestable to ignore its significance to popular music, and more importantly, its power to translate everyday human experience into something epic and transcendent, something that is increasingly rare in music today. Your heart will race, your imagination will wander, and you will smile from ear to ear. I'll finish this review with the final lyrics from the album - 'Given what you lost, are you better off? Given what you had, has it made you mad? Celebrate the few. Celebrate the new. It can only start with you.'
(Oh yeh, and I’m going to witness his genius in person in September! And if I emerged from the gig to a gentle wind and comforting sunset, it would not at all surprise me).
(Paul Ward – 23/07/05)
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