History Music / SufjanStevens

But more than anything, he's an artist who refuses to be pigeonholed, and over the course of a two-decades-long-and-counting career, he's released albums of straight folk (''Seven Swans'', ''Carrie & Lowell''), [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Enjoy Your Rabbit'', ''The Age of Adz'', ''The Ascension''), [[{{Ambient}} ambient]] (''Aporia'', ''Convocations''), and [[ClassicalMusic orchestral/contemporary classical music]] (''The B.Q.E.'', ''The Decalogue''), as well as a handful of projects (''A Sun Came'', ''All Delighted People'', ''Silver & Gold'', ''Planetarium'') which could perhaps best be described as "[[GenreMashup all of the above]]".

* LighterAndSofter: Though not without thematic darkness, the gentle instrumentation and devotional lyrics of ''Michigan'' (and to a lesser extent ''Seven Swans'') served as this following the heavy angst and experimentation of ''A Sun Came'' and ''Enjoy Your Rabbit''.

** "Drawn to the Blood", also listed under DomesticAbuse.

* HollywoodCalifornia: Evoked the title and lyrics of "Fictional California" (with regards to "California State College", the nonexistent university where ''[[Film/BringItOn Bring It On Again]]'' is set).

* TitleTrack: ''A Sun Came'', ''Seven Swans'', ''The Avalanche'', ''All Delighted People'', ''The Age of Adz'', ''Carrie & Lowell'', ''The Greatest Gift'', and ''The Ascension'' all have one. In fact, ''All Delighted People'' technically has two (an original version and a classic rock version).

** The [[TitleTrack Title Tracks]] from ''A Sun Came'', ''Seven Swans'', ''The Avalanche'', ''All Delighted People'', ''The Age of Adz'', ''Carrie & Lowell'', ''The Greatest Gift'', and ''The Ascension'' all namedrop their respective song/album.

* CallAndResponseSong: "Impossible Soul".

His musical collaborators include [[Music/{{Danielson}} Daniel Smith]], [[Music/TheNational Aaron and Bryce Dessner]], [[Music/StVincent Annie Clark]], [[Music/MyBrightestDiamond Shara Worden]], Music/MosesSumney, Angelo de Augustine, and the string quartet Osso. He's also one-third of the alternative hip-hop group Sisyphus, alongside Serengeti and Son Lux.

His musical collaborators include [[Music/{{Danielson}} Daniel Smith]], [[Music/TheNational Aaron and Bryce Dessner]], [[Music/StVincent Annie Clark]], [[Music/MyBrightestDiamond Shara Worden]], Music/MosesSumney, and the string quartet Osso. He's also one-third of the alternative hip-hop group Sisyphus, alongside Serengeti and Son Lux.

** Each track on ''A Beginner's Mind'' is loosely inspired by a different film.

* DreamTeam: He collaborated on ''Planetarium'' (an album inspired by the Solar System) with Music/TheNational guitarist Bryce Dessner, drummer James [=McAlister=], and contemporary classical music composer Nico Muhly.
** He has recorded and performed with Music/TheNational on a number of occasions.

** "Year of the Asthmatic Cat" on ''Enjoy Your Rabbit'': A sub-30-seconds instrumental lead-in which concludes with someone saying, in Chinese, "The cat is suffocated, she needs milk". (This is a reference to Sufjan's self-owned record label, Asthmatic Kitty Records, which also puts it at odds with the Chinese zodiac theme of the rest of the album.)

** "Futile Devices" on ''The Age of Adz'': A mellow, acoustic, traditionally Sufjan-esque song, just before the manic electronica which will dominate the rest of the album kicks in on "Too Much". ("Futile Devices" also introduces one of the album's main themes, the failure to communicate, with its TitleDrop final line: ''". . . and words are futile devices."'')

But more than anything, he's an artist who refuses to be pigeonholed, and over the course of a two-decades-long-and-counting career, he's released albums of straight folk (''Seven Swans'', ''Carrie & Lowell''), [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Enjoy Your Rabbit'', ''The Age of Adz'', ''The Ascension''), [[{{Ambient}} ambient]] (''Aporia'', ''Convocations''), and [[ClassicalMusic orchestral/neo-classical music]] (''The B.Q.E.'', ''The Decalogue''), as well as a handful of projects (''A Sun Came'', ''All Delighted People'', ''Silver & Gold'', ''Planetarium'') which could perhaps best be described as "[[GenreMashup all of the above]]".

** ''Carrie & Lowell'' isn't ''strictly'' a concept album, but it is all about Stevens' grieving process following the death of his mother and has a clear narrative structure.

** ''Stalker'', the unreleased and "re-discovered" album that may or may not have been recorded by a young Sufjan, is written from the perspective of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a stalker]].

** The false sense of security created by "Futile Devices", the gentle acoustic guitar song which opens ''The Age of Adz'', is quickly crushed by the unnerving robotic beeps and whirs which kick off "Too Much" and will dominate the rest of the album. Also happens from part to part of "Impossible Soul" (it's especially jarring toward the end, where it switches from loud, fun and dancey to a quiet acoustic ballad).

** "Concering the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois" on ''Illinois'': a short, gentle piano piece which serves as a sort of prologue before the bombastic fanfare of "The Black Hawk War" and the peppy, multi-part "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!".

** Happens from part to part of "Impossible Soul" (it's especially jarring toward the end, where it switches from loud, fun and dancey to a quiet acoustic ballad).
** On ''Illinois'', the joyous "Chicago" is directly followed by (and juxtaposed with) the mournful, tear-inducing "Casimir Pulaski Day".
** A few tracks earlier on the same album, the VERY dark "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." leads directly into the much more upbeat and optimistic "Jacksonville."

* "Tonya Harding" (2017) (standalone single with two version of the titular song)
* "Love Yourself / With My Whole Heart" (2019) (special single released to coincide with Pride 2019)

* ''Film/CallMeByYourName: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2017) with various artists (Sufjan contributed two original songs and one remix of an ''Age of Adz'' track)

Early in his career, he was most famous for his albums about the states of Michigan and Illinois -- featuring a mix of FolkMusic, BaroquePop, and PostRock -- and for claiming that he planned to release similar albums for the other 48 states (a project he eventually scrapped and admitted was a "promotional gimmick"). Nowadays, he's at least as well known for ''Carrie & Lowell'' -- a deeply personal and highly acclaimed album commemorating the death of his absent mother -- and for his Oscar-nominated contributions to the soundtrack of the 2017 film ''Film/CallMeByYourName''.

Sufjan Stevens (born July 1, 1975) is an American multi-instrumentalist, [[SingerSongwriter singer-songwriter]] and independent musician (born and raised in Michigan, now based in New York) beholden to no genre. Early in his career he was most famous for his albums about the states of Michigan and Illinois--featuring a mix of FolkMusic, BaroquePop, and PostRock--and for claiming that he planned to release similar albums for the other 48 states (a project he eventually scrapped and admitted was a "promotional gimmick"). Nowadays he's at least as well known for ''Carrie & Lowell''--a deeply personal and highly-acclaimed 2015 album commemorating the death of his absent mother--and for his Oscar-nominated contributions to the soundtrack of the 2017 film ''Film/CallMeByYourName''. But more than anything he's an artist who refuses to be pigeonholed, and over the course of a two-decades-long-and-counting career he's released albums of straight folk (''Seven Swans'', ''Carrie & Lowell''), [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Enjoy Your Rabbit'', ''The Age of Adz'', ''The Ascension''), [[{{Ambient}} ambient]] (''Aporia'', ''Convocations''), and [[ClassicalMusic orchestral/neo-classical music]] (''The B.Q.E.'', ''The Decalogue''), as well as a handful of projects (''A Sun Came'', ''All Delighted People'', ''Silver & Gold'', ''Planetarium'') which could perhaps best be described as "[[GenreMashup all of the above]]".

Sufjan Stevens (born July 1, 1975) is an American multi-instrumentalist, [[SingerSongwriter singer-songwriter]] and independent musician (born and raised in Michigan, now based in New York) beholden to no genre. Early in his career he was most famous for his albums about the states of Michigan and Illinois--featuring a mix of FolkMusic, BaroquePop, and PostRock--and for claiming that he planned to release similar albums for the other 48 states (a project he eventually scrapped and admitted was a "promotional gimmick"). Nowadays he's at least as well known for ''Carrie & Lowell''--a stripped-down 2015 album commemorating the loss of his absent mother--and for his Oscar-nominated contributions to the soundtrack of the 2017 film ''Film/CallMeByYourName''. But more than anything he's an artist who refuses to be pigeonholed, and over the course of a two-decades-long-and-counting career he's released albums of straight folk (''Seven Swans'', ''Carrie & Lowell''), [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Enjoy Your Rabbit'', ''The Age of Adz'', ''The Ascension''), [[{{Ambient}} ambient]] (''Aporia'', ''Convocations''), and [[ClassicalMusic orchestral/neo-classical music]] (''The B.Q.E.'', ''The Decalogue''), as well as a handful of projects (''A Sun Came'', ''All Delighted People'', ''Silver & Gold'', ''Planetarium'') which could perhaps best be described as "[[GenreMashup all of the above]]".

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: Used all over the place.
** The transition from "Death Star" to "Goodbye To All That" on ''The Ascension'' is a notable example. The drums and background vocals continue well into the second track, and it's easy to miss that a new song has even started until the lyrics kick in.

Sufjan Stevens (born July 1, 1975) is an American multi-instrumentalist, [[SingerSongwriter singer-songwriter]] and independent musician (born and raised in Michigan, now based in New York) beholden to no genre. Early in his career he was most famous for his albums about the states of Michigan and Illinois--featuring a mix of FolkMusic, BaroquePop, and PostRock--and for claiming that he planned to release similar albums for the other 48 states (a project he eventually scrapped and admitted was a "promotional gimmick"). Nowadays he's at least as well known for ''Carrie & Lowell''--a stripped-down 2015 album commemorating the loss of his absent mother--and for his Oscar-nominated contributions to the soundtrack of the 2017 film ''Film/CallMeByYourName''. But more than anything he's an artist who refuses to be pigeonholed, and over the course of a two-decades-long-and-counting career he's released albums of straight folk (''Seven Swans'', ''Carrie & Lowell''), [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Enjoy Your Rabbit'', ''The Ascension''), orchestral music (''The B.Q.E.''), as well as a handful of projects (''A Sun Came'', ''The Age of Adz'', ''All Delighted People'') which could perhaps best be described as "[[GenreMashup all of the above]]".

* OutOfGenreExperience: ''Enjoy Your Rabbit'' saw a foray from his indie folk-y roots into noisy, chaotic glitch.

Sufjan Stevens (born July 1, 1975) is an American multi-instrumentalist, [[SingerSongwriter singer-songwriter]] and independent musician (born and raised in Michigan, now based in New York) beholden to no genre. He’s most famous for his albums about the states of Michigan and Illinois--featuring a mix of FolkMusic, BaroquePop, and PostRock--and for claiming that he planned to release similar albums for the other 48 states (a project he eventually scrapped and admitted was a "promotional gimmick"). However, he's also released albums of straight folk (''Seven Swans'', ''Carrie & Lowell''), [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Enjoy Your Rabbit'', ''The Ascension''), and orchestral music (''The B.Q.E.''); and the genre of ''The Age of Adz'' and ''Silver & Gold'' could perhaps be described as "[[GenreMashup all of the above]]".

His musical collaborators include [[Music/{{Danielson}} Daniel Smith]], [[Music/TheNational Aaron and Bryce Dessner]], [[Music/StVincent Annie Clark]], [[Music/MyBrightestDiamond Shara Worden]], and the string quartet Osso. He's also one-third of the alternative hip-hop group Sisyphus, alongside Serengeti and Son Lux.