Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Album Review)

 

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

(2015)

My copy: 2015 press by Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Sufjan Stevens returned to basic indie folk with the stripped-back Carrie & Lowell, which released to near universal acclaim among mainstream music outlets. Carrie & Lowell focuses mainly on emotional impact, with lyrics centered on Stevens’s relationship with his recently deceased mother (the titular Carrie). While Stevens does manage to evoke sympathy with powerful lyrics, the tone is ruined by odd production choices, lackluster compositions and hamfisted performances.  

It should be noted that the album is doubly marred by a significantly shoddy vinyl mix, though some fans have had better luck with the 2019 reissue. Guitar arpeggios flutter, setting a humble atmosphere on “Death With Dignity” that is swiftly crushed by the perplexingly washed out and overly manipulated vocals. Stevens is at his best when delivering falsetto climaxes, though most of his performances are theatrical and dramatic, feeling ill-suited for what is meant to be an honest look into illness and tragedy. The music is at its best when it is fading into twilight via lap steel guitar and bleeding synth atmosphere. “Should Have Known Better” starts as a more interestingly written guitar tune in the style of Nick Drake until an embarrassingly cheerful synth melody joins the overproduced vocals in recreating the worst elements of Death Cab For Cutie or Owl City.  

“All Of Me Wants All Of You” takes the guitars down to strumming as Stevens delivers an infamous line that might have been funny or eerily honest if it weren’t so heavily processed (“You checked your texts while I masturbated”). Again, the best part of each song is near the end when the more traditional writing blends into a mellow ambiance, though this is done so often that it becomes uninteresting later. There is a pretty arrangement of drones on “Drawn To The Blood” that helps elevate the otherwise moody vibe. The instrumentals are best with piano melodies such as on “Fourth Of July” which also is one of the more effective lyrical pieces. 

“The Only Thing” through to “Eugene” have little worth mentioning and repeat similar tropes. “John My Beloved” finally breathes fresh air in with an intimate, percussive, muted piano performance that serves as an intriguing change of pace. We recede to generic indie-folk with “No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross,” but “Blue Bucket Of Gold” is a worthwhile closer for its patience, warmth and haunting vocal harmonies. If more of the album had utilized the subtlety of the final track, the end product would likely have been much more impactful.

There must be something about Carrie & Lowell that I am simply unable to understand. Yes, the lyrics are heartfelt and touchingly written, but matched with such gaudy, quizzically affected vocals that it becomes hard to feel attached to anything that is said. Even early folk-influenced pieces by Stevens had more of a down-to-earth sound. The music is insanely boring aside from a few good songs, with the only catharsis existing in the slower, transparent ambient moments. While Carrie & Lowell is respectable for its attempt to convey togetherness through trauma-sharing, it simply fails at matching the tone of the lyrics in both production and musicality.