History Music / CarrieAndLowell

Reception from both fans and critics was overwhelmingly positive; it is tied with 2005’s ''Illinois'' as Stevens' highest-rated studio album on Metacritic, and is the site's second-highest-rated album of its release year (after Music/KendrickLamar's ''Music/ToPimpABButterfly'', an album which, incidentally, includes a [[{{Sampling}} sample]] from Stevens' ''The Age of Adz'').

Reception from both fans and critics was overwhelmingly positive; it is tied with 2005’s ''Illinois'' as Stevens' highest-rated studio album on Metacritic, and is the site's second-highest-rated album of its release year (after Music/KendrickLamar's ''To Pimp a Butterfly'', an album which, incidentally, includes a [[{{Sampling}} sample]] from Stevens' ''The Age of Adz'').

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Explicitly mentioned in "All Of Me Wants All of You".
-->''You checked your texts while I masturbated''

%%* HeroicBSOD: The whole album, essentially.
%%* HomoeroticSubtext: See HoYay on the YMMV page.

''Carrie & Lowell'' is the seventh studio LP by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Music/SufjanStevens, released on March 31, 2015. The album is [[RealLifeWritesThePlot auto]][[CreatorBreakdown biographical]], dealing primarily with Stevens’ grieving process following the death of his mother, Carrie, in 2012.

And he called me Subaru''

* AudienceParticipationSong: "Fourth of July," as demonstrated on the LiveAlbum. It's definitely curious hearing a crowd scream in unison "we're all gonna die!"

* DomesticAbuse: The narrator in "Drawn to the Blood" suffers this. Unfortunately has a RealitySubtext. From the April 2015 issue of ''Uncut'' magazine:

* HeroicBSOD: The whole album, essentially.
* HomoeroticSubtext: See HoYay on the YMMV page.

->''[[DespairEventHorizon "We're all]] [[WeAllDieSomeday gonna die."]]''
-->-- '''"Fourth of July"'''

-->--'''"Fourth of July"'''

Reception from both fans and critics was overwhelmingly positive; it is tied with 2005’s ''Illinois'' as Stevens' highest-rated studio album on Metacritic, and is the site's second-highest-rated album of its release year (after Music/KendrickLamar's ''To Pimp a Butterfly''--an album which, incidentally, includes a [[{{Sampling}} sample]] from Stevens' ''The Age of Adz'').

Stevens toured extensively following ''Carrie & Lowell''’s release, performing dynamic [[RearrangeTheSong rearrangements]] of the album’s songs with an accompanying video and light show. He subsequently released his first ever LiveAlbum, ''Carrie & Lowell Live'', in 2017. (This is currently his best-rated release on Metacritic, scoring one point higher than the studio version itself!) Stevens also put out a companion EP, ''The Greatest Gift Mixtape: Outtakes, Remixes, and Demos from Carrie & Lowell'', the same year.
----

** The indifferent partner in "All of Me Wants All of You" is compared to Poseidon, the ancient Greek god the sea.

Reception from both fans and critics was overwhelmingly positive; it is tied with 2005’s ''Illinois'' as Stevens' highest-rated studio album on Metacritic, and is the site's second-highest rated album of its release year (after Music/KendrickLamar's ''To Pimp a Butterfly''--an album which, incidentally, includes a [[{{Sampling}} sample]] from Stevens' ''The Age of Adz'').

Reception from both fans and critics was overwhelmingly positive; it is tied with 2005’s ''Illinois'' as Stevens' highest-rated studio album on Metacritic, and is the site's second-highest rated album of its release year (after Music/KendrickLamar's ''To Pimp a Butterfly''--an album which, incidentally, includes a sample from Stevens' ''The Age of Adz'').

->''"We're all gonna die."''

''Carrie & Lowell'' is the seventh studio LP by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Music/SufjanStevens, released on March 31, 2015.

The album is autobiographical, dealing primarily with Stevens’ grieving process following the death of his mother, Carrie, in 2012. Carrie suffered from depression, schizophrenia, and addiction, and was absent through most of Sufjan’s childhood. Sufjan’s struggle to come to terms with their relationship and to forgive his mother for her abandonment while simultaneously mourning her loss forms the emotional core of the album. Meanwhile the "Lowell" of the title is Carrie’s second husband and Sufjan’s stepdad, Lowell Brams, who served as a surrogate father for Sufjan and with whom he co-founded his record label, Asthmatic Kitty. (In 2020 the pair also released an instrumental NewAge album they recorded together, entitled ''Aporia''.)

Stylistically the album marked a return to the stripped-down [[FolkMusic indie folk]] Stevens was known for early in his career, but which he had increasingly moved away from with releases like ''Music/{{Illinois}}'' (BaroquePop) and ''Music/TheAgeOfAdz'' (ElectronicMusic). ''Carrie & Lowell'' features almost no percussion or symphonic elements, consisting instead of lo-fi guitar and keyboard-led songs with occasional understated electronic touches.

* BittersweetEnding: ''Carrie & Lowell'' ends with "Blue Bucket of Gold", in which Sufjan (after admitting his deep emotional wounds in "John My Beloved" and unsuccessfully attempting to heal them in "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross") begins quietly moving on from his mother's death. He pleads for someone to fill the hole left with her departure, whether it be a friend or God, and the song ends with an ambient crescendo that, [[WordOfGod according to Sufjan]], symbolizes him finally letting go and surrendering his mother to the beyond.
* BizarreInstrument: [[https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000117156794-rj4gdq-t500x500.jpg The guitalin]] — a lute-like instrument invented in the 1960s — featured heavily in ''Carrie & Lowell'' and in subsequent live shows.

''Carrie & Lowell'' is the seventh studio LP by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Music/SufjanStevens, released in 2015.

Reception from both fans and critics was overwhelmingly positive, and it is tied with 2005’s ''Illinois'' as Stevens’ highest-rated studio album on Metacritic.

-->''My brother had a daughter / The beauty that she brings, illumination.''

* NameAndName

Stylistically the album marked a return to the stripped-down [[FolkMusic indie folk]] Stevens was known for early in his career, but which he had increasingly moved away from with releases like ''Music/{{Illinois}}'' (BaroquePop) and ''The Age of Adz'' (ElectronicMusic). ''Carrie & Lowell'' features almost no percussion or symphonic elements, consisting instead of lo-fi guitar and keyboard-led songs with occasional understated electronic touches.

* HomoeroticSubtext:
** "All of Me Wants All of You": The narrator refers to his lover as "Manelich" (a male name) and says they "look like [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Poseidon]]."
** "Drawn to the Blood": ''"The strength of his arm / my lover caught me off guard."''
** "John My Beloved": Combines biblical imagery of Jesus and John (referred to in his eponymous gospel as "the disciple whom Jesus loved") with descriptions of a bar hookup and references to "the kiss on my cheek" and "my tongue on your chest."

** "All of Me Wants All of You": The narrator refers to his lover as "Manelich" (a male name) and says they look like Poseidon.

* {{Minimalism}}: ''C&L'' sees Sufjan at his most stripped-down, with minimum instrumentation, lo-fi production values, and a run time of well under an hour. Aesthetically this is about as far from ''Music/{{Illinois}}'' as it gets. (The LiveAlbum, on the other hand, [[RearrangeTheSong reimagines several of the tracks]] in a much more bombastic way.)

Stevens toured extensively following ''Carrie & Lowell''’s release, performing dynamic [[RearrangeTheSong rearrangements]] of the album’s songs with an accompanying video and light show. He subsequently released his first ever LiveAlbum, ''Carrie & Lowell Live'', in 2017. (This is currently his best-rated release on Metacritic, scoring one point higher than the studio version itself!) Stevens also put out a companion release, ''The Greatest Gift Mixtape: Outtakes, Remixes, and Demos from Carrie & Lowell'', the same year.

The album is autobiographical, dealing primarily with Stevens’ grieving process following the death of his mother, Carrie, in 2012. Carrie suffered from depression, schizophrenia, and addiction, and was absent through most of Sufjan’s childhood. Sufjan’s struggle to come to terms with their relationship and to forgive his mother for her abandonment while simultaneously mourning her loss forms the emotional core of the album. Meanwhile the “Lowell” of the title is Carrie’s second husband and Sufjan’s stepdad, Lowell Brams, who served as a surrogate father for Sufjan and with whom he co-founded his record label, Asthmatic Kitty. (In 2020 the pair also released an instrumental NewAge album they recorded together, entitled ''Aporia''.)

* WorthLivingFor: "The Only Thing", whose narrator contemplates suicide but ultimately decides not to go through with it after witnessing all the natural wonders around him.

* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: The AuthorAvatar tries to find a substitute for his mother's love in drug, alcohol, and abusive relationships, among other things.