The Ascension

Never thought I’d see sufjan participate in an “ALBUM ONLY” scam! Was getting 4 songs and ‘America’, bc it’s probably the best song on this album. I’m not a huge s.s. fan, but I always respected him bc he stood up for what he believed in. Guess he believes in selling out now!

My favourite thing about Sufjan will always be his ability to carve something so beautiful, raw, and reflective of the human experience out of language. That being said, the poetic nature of the lyrics were simply mismatched by the instrumentals. The cosmic feeling of drifting, reminiscent of Planetarium and Aporia simply felt distant from the sweet words and soft hush vocals. It wasn’t a miserable experience, I enjoyed some tracks, namely Make me an offer I cannot refuse and America, but overall, it simply did not impress me.

I love “Video Game” and “America”. I can see where the rest of the album is coming from and I appreciate the artistry. I’ve always been something of a Sufjan fanboy, but this just wasn’t for me. Maybe it’s something I’ll have to listen to a few times to get it, but right now I’m just a little disappointed.

I bought his first single and love it. The rest of the album isn’t good. Disappointed. He’s had some great songs in the past. I don’t know what’s going on here. I think creatively he’s tapped out.

Put the synths away and pick up the guitar

I’ll start this off with a positive note: I’m very glad that Sufjan is trying something new. I do love his older material, but all of his music in the last decade had kind of converged on the same sound. It was time to change things up. I think there are good ideas here. It does feel like there could be a great album buried somewhere under here, but the way it is presented just isn’t tasteful. Prior to this release, a Sufjan album in 2020 felt like an unbelievable dream. But upon the release of all the singles, I started to lose hope. America was too long for what it was. Sugar is boring. Video game was silly and kind of terrible. And while these singles weren’t great, they weren’t terrible either. And nothing really prepared me for the deep cuts here. The deep cuts are what just absolutely ruin this album. Many of them are extremely boring and go absolutely nowhere. And the other half are loaded with grating and annoying electronics. Die Happy, Ursa Major, and Gilgamesh can all evoke a headache upon listening. Loud, distasteful, and abrasive electronics and sounds plague these songs, recalling something a lot like Danse Manatee from Animal Collective. And unfortunately, just about every song falls to either one of these problems. I have no desire to revisit this album. I think that Sufjan could make a great album out of these ideas and sounds, but in the case of a trial and error, this is an error. I hope the next album is better, because this is one of the biggest disappointments I can think of in recent memory

I like where this is going. Will def take multiple listens.

Good to have him back. The overall feel is not dissimilar to Todd Rundgren’s 2004 album “Liars”.

Incredible

But the music...not so much. Cacophanous mess. A very poor attempt at a combo of Radiohead and Postal Service.