Sufjan Stevens revealed on Instagram that he had Guillain-Barré syndrome in the middle of September. Bedridden for a few weeks, he then began a rehabilitation process which promises to be long since he has to learn to walk again. We don’t expect to see him in concert again for a long time. However, he had already completed his latest album, Javelin, which was released despite the illness that befell this artist, a favorite of fans of orchestral indie folk.
On this tenth album, the American songwriter makes what we want to call a return to his sources. Abandoning his electro explorations of the last decade, he focuses on rich acoustic instrumentation, mixing guitars, flutes, percussion, piano and many other things. Human voices too, since choirs embellish the last third of most of the songs, accentuating their spiritual character.
Sufjan Stevens will not surprise those who fell for Ilinoise almost 20 years ago and have been praising him ever since: they will find his soft voice, his vague soul and his refined manner. Tourists of his work – I am one – will undoubtedly be impressed by his melodic generosity, by his superb juxtapositions of timbres and colors, by his very personal way of mixing romantic feelings and spiritual quests as well.
However, they may be less forgiving than long-time fans of its repetitive structures: almost all of Javelin’s songs are designed along the same lines – with a more rhythmic musical bridge towards the end – as if they flowed from just one idea. Which becomes boring, despite the other feats. Exception: the grandiose Shit Talk, which extends over 8 minutes and where the artist transcends everything he does elsewhere on this disc.
Sufjan Stevens remains an extraordinary architect, whose musicality surpasses that of a majority of artists of all genres. His symphonic apartment folk nevertheless risks leaving those who are not easily touched by creators who aim to achieve the sacred a little cold.
