Sufjan Stevens

Biography

Sufjan Stevens ( SOOF-yahn; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nominations.
His debut album, A Sun Came×A Sun Came13 June 2000 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1We Are What You Say5:212A Winner Needs a Wand5:453Rake2:494Siamese Twins0:155Demetrius6:016Dumb I Sound5:487Wordsworth’s Ridge (for Fran Fike)4:558Belly Button0:099Rice Pudding2:2410Loverless Bed (Without Remission)6:1711Godzuki0:3712Super Sexy Woman2:4213The Oracle Said Wander5:3714Happy Birthday2:4615Jason6:0916Kill4:2517Ya Leil5:3918A Sun Came5:16, was released in 2000 on the Asthmatic Kitty label, which he co-founded with his stepfather. He received wide recognition for his 2005 album Illinois×Illinois4 July 2005 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 22 tracks1Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois2:092The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You’re Going to Have to Leave Now, or, “I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!”2:153Come On! Feel the Illinoise! Part I: The World’s Columbian Exposition, Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream6:464John Wayne Gacy, Jr.3:205Jacksonville5:256A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons0:487Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!3:048One Last “Whoo‐Hoo!” for the Pullman0:069Chicago6:0510Casimir Pulaski Day5:5411To the Workers of the Rockford River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament1:4112The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts6:1713Prairie Fire That Wanders About2:1114A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze0:2015The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!5:2316They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!5:1017Let’s Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don’t Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell0:4018In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth0:3519The Seer’s Tower3:5420The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders, Part I: The Great Frontier, Part II: Come to Me Only With Playthings Now7:0321Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to Name a Few0:4722Out of Egypt, Into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt From My Sandals as I Run4:22, which hit number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and for the single "Chicago" from that album. Stevens later contributed to the soundtrack of the 2017 film Call Me by Your Name. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song and a Grammy nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media for the soundtrack's lead single, "Mystery of Love×Mystery of Love1 December 2017 · Single · SoundtrackSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Mystery of Love4:09".
Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the electronica of The Age of Adz×The Age of Adz11 October 2010 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Futile Devices2:112Too Much6:443Age of Adz8:004I Walked5:015Now That I’m Older4:566Get Real Get Right5:107Bad Communication2:248Vesuvius5:269All for Myself2:5510I Want to Be Well6:2711Impossible Soul25:35 and the lo-fi folk of Seven Swans to the symphonic instrumentation of Illinois and Yuletide-themed Songs for Christmas. He employs various instruments, often playing many of them himself on the same recording. Stevens' music is also known for exploring various themes, particularly religion and spirituality. Stevens' tenth studio album, Javelin×Javelin6 October 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Goodbye Evergreen3:352A Running Start4:213Will Anybody Ever Love Me?4:094Everything That Rises5:005Genuflecting Ghost3:336My Red Little Fox3:437So You Are Tired4:508Javelin (To Have and to Hold)1:539Shit Talk8:3110There’s a World2:30, was released in October 2023.

Early life, family and education

Stevens was born in Detroit and lived there until the age of nine, when his family moved to Alanson, Michigan, in the state's northern Lower Peninsula. He was raised by his father, Rasjid, and his stepmother, Pat, only occasionally visiting his mother, Carrie, in Oregon after she married her second husband, Lowell Brams (who later became the head of Stevens' record label Asthmatic Kitty). Stevens is of Lithuanian and Greek descent. Sufjan is an Islamic name of Arabic origin, derived from Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. The name was given to Stevens by the founder of Subud, an interfaith spiritual community to which his parents belonged when he was born.
Stevens attended the Detroit Waldorf School, Alanson Public Schools and Interlochen Arts Academy, and he graduated from Harbor Light Christian School. He then attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He then earned an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in New York City.
While in school, Stevens studied the oboe and the similar English horn, which he plays on his albums. Stevens did not learn to play the guitar until his time at Hope College.

Early career and the Fifty States Project (1995–2006)

Stevens began his musical career as a member of Marzuki, a folk-rock band from Holland, Michigan, as well as garage band Con Los Dudes. He also played (and continues to play) various instruments for Danielson Famile. During his final semester at Hope College, Stevens wrote and recorded his debut solo album, A Sun Came×A Sun Came13 June 2000 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1We Are What You Say5:212A Winner Needs a Wand5:453Rake2:494Siamese Twins0:155Demetrius6:016Dumb I Sound5:487Wordsworth’s Ridge (for Fran Fike)4:558Belly Button0:099Rice Pudding2:2410Loverless Bed (Without Remission)6:1711Godzuki0:3712Super Sexy Woman2:4213The Oracle Said Wander5:3714Happy Birthday2:4615Jason6:0916Kill4:2517Ya Leil5:3918A Sun Came5:16, which he released on Asthmatic Kitty Records. He later moved to New York City, where he enrolled in a writing program at The New School for Social Research. During his time at the New School, Stevens developed a preoccupation with the short story form, which he believed would lead him to write a novel, but ultimately returned him to songwriting. After graduating, Stevens worked as a graphic designer at Penguin Putnam.
While in New York, Stevens composed and recorded the music for his second album, Enjoy Your Rabbit×Enjoy Your Rabbit17 September 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Year of the Asthmatic Cat0:242Year of the Monkey4:203Year of the Rat8:234Year of the Ox4:015Year of the Boar3:556Year of the Tiger4:257Year of the Snake6:488Year of the Sheep3:359Year of the Rooster6:2510Year of the Dragon9:2711Enjoy Your Rabbit4:4812Year of the Dog4:5213Year of the Horse13:1914Year of Our Lord4:30, a song cycle based around the animals of the Chinese zodiac that delved into electronica.
Stevens followed this with the album Michigan×Michigan1 July 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)3:442All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!4:343For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti3:574Say Yes! to M!ch!gan!2:465The Upper Peninsula3:236Tahquamenon Falls2:197Holland3:268Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)8:219Romulus4:4210Alanson, Crooked River1:1911Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie2:5212They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)6:2113Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)9:2414Redford (For Yia‐Yia & Pappou)2:0215Vito’s Ordination Song7:07, a collection of folk songs and instrumentals. It includes odes to cities including Detroit and Flint, the Upper Peninsula, and vacation areas such as Tahquamenon Falls and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Melded into the scenic descriptions and characters are his own declarations of faith, sorrow, love, and the regeneration of Michigan. Beginning with the album, Stevens announced his intent to write an album for each of the 50 U.S. states, which he termed the Fifty States Project. Following the release of Michigan, Stevens compiled a collection of songs recorded previously into a side project, the album Seven Swans×Seven Swans16 March 2004 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands4:142The Dress Looks Nice on You2:323In the Devil’s Territory4:584To Be Alone With You2:485Abraham2:346Sister6:017Size Too Small3:058We Won’t Need Legs to Stand2:169A Good Man Is Hard to Find3:1610He Woke Me Up Again2:4311Seven Swans6:3312The Transfiguration5:19, which was released in March 2004. Stevens did not leave his job in the children's book division at Time Warner until touring for Seven Swans.

Next, he released the second in the Fifty States project, titled Illinois. Among the subjects explored on Illinois are the cities of Chicago, Decatur and Jacksonville; the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the death of a friend on Casimir Pulaski Day, the poet Carl Sandburg, and the serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Stevens had spent the second half of 2004 researching and writing material for the album. As with Michigan, Stevens used the state of Illinois as a leaping-off point for his more personal explorations of faith, family, love, and location. Though slated for release on July 5, 2005, the album was briefly delayed by legal issues regarding the use of an image of Superman in the original album cover artwork. In the double vinyl release, a balloon sticker was placed over Superman on the cover art of the first 5,000 copies. The next printings had an empty space where the Superman image was, as with the CD release. Illinois was widely acclaimed and was the highest-rated album of 2005 on the review aggregator website Metacritic. The 2006 PLUG Independent Music Awards awarded Stevens with the Album of the Year, Best Album Art/Packaging, and Male Artist of the Year. Pitchfork, No Ripcord, and Paste magazine named Illinois as the editors' choice for best album of 2005, and Stevens received the 2005 Pantheon prize, awarded to noteworthy albums selling fewer than 500,000 copies, for Illinois×Illinois4 July 2005 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 22 tracks1Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois2:092The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You’re Going to Have to Leave Now, or, “I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!”2:153Come On! Feel the Illinoise! Part I: The World’s Columbian Exposition, Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream6:464John Wayne Gacy, Jr.3:205Jacksonville5:256A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons0:487Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!3:048One Last “Whoo‐Hoo!” for the Pullman0:069Chicago6:0510Casimir Pulaski Day5:5411To the Workers of the Rockford River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament1:4112The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts6:1713Prairie Fire That Wanders About2:1114A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze0:2015The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!5:2316They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!5:1017Let’s Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don’t Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell0:4018In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth0:3519The Seer’s Tower3:5420The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders, Part I: The Great Frontier, Part II: Come to Me Only With Playthings Now7:0321Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to Name a Few0:4722Out of Egypt, Into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt From My Sandals as I Run4:22.
In April 2006, Stevens announced that 21 pieces of music he had culled from the Illinois recording sessions would be incorporated into a new album, called The Avalanche×The Avalanche10 July 2006 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 21 tracks1The Avalanche3:142Dear Mr. Supercomputer4:203Adlai Stevenson2:344The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies1:505Chicago (acoustic version)4:416The Henney Buggy Band3:177Saul Bellow2:548Carlyle Lake3:169Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair4:1810The Mistress Witch From McClure (or, The Mind That Knows Itself)3:2411Kaskaskia River2:1512Chicago (adult contemporary easy listening version)6:0713Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne1:2514No Man’s Land4:4515The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake1:3916The Pick‐Up3:2417The Perpetual Self, or “What Would Saul Alinsky Do?”2:2418For Clyde Tombaugh3:4319Chicago (Multiple Personality Disorder version)4:3520Pittsfield6:5121The Undivided Self (For Eppie and Popo)4:59, which was released on July 11, 2006. On September 11, 2006, in Nashville, Tennessee, Stevens debuted a new composition, a ten-minute-plus piece titled "Majesty Snowbird". On November 21, 2006, a five CD box set Songs for Christmas was released, which contains originals and Christmas standards recorded every year since 2001 (except 2004). Stevens undertook in the project initially as an exercise to make himself 'appreciate' Christmas more. The songs were the work of an annual collaboration between Stevens and different collaborators, including minister Vito Aiuto; the songs themselves were distributed to friends and family.
Although Stevens' subsequent work was sometimes speculated to tie into future "States" projects, and Stevens himself would make occasional statements alluding to the future of the project, Stevens later admitted that the project had been a "promotional gimmick" and not one he had seriously intended to complete. In November 2009, Stevens admitted to Exclaim! magazine, in regard to the fact that he recently called his fifty-state project a joke, that "I don't really have as much faith in my work as I used to, but I think that's healthy. I think it's allowed me to be less precious about how I work and write. And maybe it's okay for us to take it less seriously."

Soundtrack album and various collaborative projects (2007–2009)

Over the 2005 winter holidays, Stevens recorded an album with Rosie Thomas and Denison Witmer playing banjo and providing vocals. In April 2006, Pitchfork erroneously announced that Stevens and Thomas were having a baby together, and were forced to print a retraction. Witmer and Thomas later admitted it was an April Fools' prank. In December 2006, the collaborative recordings were digitally released by Nettwerk as a Rosie Thomas album titled These Friends of Mine. The album was released in physical form on March 13, 2007.
On May 31, 2007, Asthmatic Kitty announced that Stevens would be premiering a new project titled The BQE in early November 2007. The project, dubbed a "symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City's infamous Brooklyn–Queens Expressway", was manifested in a live show. The BQE featured an original film by Stevens (shot in Super 8 film and standard 16 mm), while Stevens and a backing orchestra provided the live soundtrack. The performance used 36 performers which included a small band, a wind and brass ensemble, string players, horn players, and hula hoopers. There were no lyrics to the music. The BQE was commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of their Next Wave Festival and performed on three consecutive nights from November 1–3, 2007.
The performance sold out the 2,109 seat BAM Opera House without any advertising. After three weeks of rehearsing the piece with the three dozen musicians involved, he presented the 30-minute composition. The BQE was followed by an additional one hour of concert by Stevens and his orchestra. The BQE won the 2008 Brendan Gill Prize. In April 2007, in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, Stevens made unannounced appearances on Thomas's tour in support of this album. In 2007, he played shows sporadically, including playing at the Kennedy Center to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Millennium Stage concerts.
Stevens has also worked as an essayist, contributing to Asthmatic Kitty Records' "Sidebar" feature and Topic Magazine. He wrote the introduction to the 2007 edition of The Best American Nonrequired Reading, a short story about his early childhood education and learning to read titled How I Trumped Rudolf Steiner and Overcame the Tribulations of Illiteracy, One Snickers Bar at a Time. That winter, he hosted an "Xmas Song Exchange Contest" in which winner Alec Duffy won exclusive rights to the original Stevens song "Lonely Man of Winter×Lonely Man of Winter9 November 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Lonely Man of Winter3:112Lonely Man of Winter (Doveman mix)3:393Every Day Is Christmas3:05". The track could only be heard by attending private listening parties at Duffy's home in Brooklyn and at places around the world until 2018, when Duffy negotiated with Asthmatic Kitty Records to release the song with all proceeds going towards Duffy's organization JACK.
Stevens has contributed to the music of Denison Witmer, Soul-Junk, Half-handed Cloud, Brother Danielson, Danielson Famile, Serena-Maneesh, Castanets, Will Stratton, Shannon Stephens, Clare & the Reasons, Little Scream, and Liz Janes. In 2007 alone, Stevens played piano on The National's album Boxer, produced and contributed many instrumental tracks to Rosie Thomas's album These Friends of Mine, multiple instruments on Ben + Vesper's album All This Could Kill You and oboe and vocals to David Garland's 2007 album Noise in You.
He has contributed covers of Tim Buckley ("She Is"), Joni Mitchell ("Free Man in Paris"), Daniel Johnston ("Worried Shoes"), John Fahey ("Variation on 'Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion at Magruder Park"), The Innocence Mission ("The Lakes of Canada"), Bob Dylan ("Ring Them Bells"), Drake ("Hotline Bling"), Prince ("Kiss") and The Beatles ("What Goes On") to various tribute albums. His versions of "Free Man in Paris" and "What Goes On" are notable for only retaining the lyrics of the original, as Stevens has taken his own interpretation on the melody and arrangement. His rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" has a similar rearranged melody and arrangement as well as a whole new verse.
His songs "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders" and "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" were featured in the 2006 British comedy-drama Driving Lessons, starring Julie Walters and Rupert Grint. In 2008, he produced Welcome to The Welcome Wagon, the debut album of Brooklyn-based husband and wife duo Vito and Monique Aiuto, The Welcome Wagon.
In February 2009, Stevens contributed "You Are the Blood" to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization. In April 2009, Stevens uploaded a song about director Sofia Coppola online. This song was written while Stevens was in college, from a series of songs about names.
Stevens recalled:

A few weeks later, our dog got hit by a snowplow and I forgot all about the problem of names. Until college, when I learned to play the guitar, and, as an exercise, started writing songs (very poorly executed) in the same way that Henry Ford produced the automobile: assembly-line-style. I wrote songs for the days of the week (poor Monday!). Songs for the planets (poor Pluto!). Songs for the Apostles (poor Judas!). And, finally, when all else failed, I started a series of songs for names. [...] Each piece was a rhetorical, philosophical, musical rumination on all the possible names I had entertained years before when my parents had given me the one chance to change my own. Oh fates! I sang these songs in the privacy of my dorm room, behind closed doors, pillows and cushions stuffed in the air vents so no one would hear. And then I almost failed Latin class, my grades plummeted, my social life dissolved into ping pong tournaments in the residence halls, and, gradually, my interest in music (or anything divine, creative, fruitful, enriching) completely waned. I turned to beer. And cigarettes. And TV sitcoms. And candy bars. Oh well! A perfectly good youth wasted on junk food! That is, until a few months ago, when I came across some of the old name songs, stuffed onto tape cassettes, 4-track recorders, forgotten boxes, forgotten shelves, forgotten hard drives. It was like finding an old diary, or a high school yearbook, senior picture with lens flare and pockmarks, slightly cute and embarrassing. What was I thinking?

Solo studio albums (2009–2011)

In September 2009, Stevens began performing four new songs while on his fall tour, "All Delighted People", "Impossible Soul", "Too Much×Too Much2010 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Too Much (short version)3:54" and "Age of Adz". That year Stevens contributed to an album with his stepfather, Lowell Brams, titled Music for Insomnia. The album was released December 8, 2009. On October 6, 2009, Stevens' label, Asthmatic Kitty Records, released an album of versions of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit×Enjoy Your Rabbit17 September 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Year of the Asthmatic Cat0:242Year of the Monkey4:203Year of the Rat8:234Year of the Ox4:015Year of the Boar3:556Year of the Tiger4:257Year of the Snake6:488Year of the Sheep3:359Year of the Rooster6:2510Year of the Dragon9:2711Enjoy Your Rabbit4:4812Year of the Dog4:5213Year of the Horse13:1914Year of Our Lord4:30 rearranged for strings and performed by the Osso String Quartet, titled Run Rabbit Run.
In 2010, Stevens was featured on The National's album High Violet, released in May, and sang backing vocals for the band on the Late Show with David Letterman. Following the release of High Violet, band frontman Matt Berninger mentioned that Stevens was recording a new album in the band's studio and that The National would appear on some of the tracks. In early August, Stevens announced North American tour dates across dozens of cities. On August 20, 2010, Stevens suddenly and unexpectedly released a new collection of tracks, the All Delighted People EP, for digital download. The EP is built around two versions of the title track, "All Delighted People". The EP surprisingly rose to No. 27 on the Billboard 200 albums solely through its digital sales. On August 26, Asthmatic Kitty announced that Stevens would release his newest full-length album, The Age of Adz×The Age of Adz11 October 2010 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Futile Devices2:112Too Much6:443Age of Adz8:004I Walked5:015Now That I’m Older4:566Get Real Get Right5:107Bad Communication2:248Vesuvius5:269All for Myself2:5510I Want to Be Well6:2711Impossible Soul25:35, on October 12. NPR streamed the album until it was released on October 12, 2010.
The two albums featured a wide range of arrangements, from orchestral to electronic. Song lengths were also extended; the track "Djohariah" from All Delighted People is 17 minutes long, while "Impossible Soul" from The Age of Adz is 25 minutes long. The albums also feature many styles from disco to folk.
Stevens has stated in interviews that in 2009 and 2010 he suffered from a mysterious debilitating virus infection that affected his nervous system. He experienced chronic pain and was forced to stop working on music for several months. He said: "The Age of Adz, is, in some ways, a result of that process of working through health issues and getting much more in touch with my physical self. That's why I think the record's really obsessed with sensation and has a hysterical melodrama to it."
On October 12, 2010, Stevens began his North American tour in Montreal, featuring virtually all new material. The tour lasted just over a month and ended on November 15, 2010, in New York City. Stevens toured Australia and New Zealand in early 2011, featured as part of the Sydney Festival, and appeared on-stage with The National during the last of three sold-out Auckland shows. He also toured Europe and the United Kingdom in April and May 2011, playing there for the first time in five years. His shows mostly consisted of new material, but he did play many older tracks from Seven Swans and Illinois. Stevens ended the Age of Adz tour with two shows in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York.

Further collaborative projects (2012–2014)

On February 27, 2012, it was announced Stevens would release a collaborative EP titled Beak & Claw, on March 20, with artists Son Lux and Serengeti under the name S / S / S on the Anticon record label. Stevens released a 7" with close friend Rosie Thomas for Record Store Day 2012, titled Hit & Run Vol. 1. He also collaborated with choreographer Justin Peck on two ballets for the New York City Ballet: Year of the Rabbit (2012) and Everywhere We Go (2014), both to great critical acclaim. Stevens, along with fellow Brooklyn musicians Nico Muhly and Bryce Dessner, began performing their classical project Planetarium, a song-cycle based around the planets in the Solar System in countries such as England, The Netherlands, Australia and France from March to July 2012.
On October 2, 2012, it was announced that Stevens would release a second set of Christmas albums, titled Silver & Gold×Silver & Gold13 November 2012 · EP · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 58 tracks · 5 discsDisc 11Silent Night2:262Lumberjack Christmas / No One Can Save You From Christmases Past3:223Coventry Carol2:544The Midnight Clear2:495Carol of St. Benjamin the Bearded One3:326Go Nightly Cares1:447Barcarola (You Must Be a Christmas Tree)7:038Auld Lang Syne1:35Disc 21Christ the Lord Is Born0:482Christmas Woman5:333Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light1:094Happy Family Christmas1:235Jingle Bells1:196Mysteries of the Christmas Mist2:107Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates1:208We Wish You a Merry Christmas1:169Ah Holy Jesus2:4210Behold! The Birth of Man, the Face of Glory1:0911Ding‐A‐Ling‐A‐Ring‐A‐Ling1:5012How Shall I Fitly Meet Thee?2:0913Mr. Frosty Man1:5014Make Haste to See the Baby1:2315Ah Holy Jesus (with reed organ)1:2916Hark! The Herald Angels Sing1:5117Morning (sacred harp)2:2818Idumea (sacred harp)3:5019Eternal Happiness or Woe1:2320Ah Holy Jesus (a cappella)1:0021I Am Santa’s Helper1:5122“Maoz Tzur” (Rock of Ages)0:4223Even the Earth Will Perish and the Universe Give Way2:01Disc 31Angels We Have Heard on High4:042Do You Hear What I Hear?9:143Christmas in the Room4:234It Came Upon a Midnight Clear0:485Good King Wenceslas4:186Alphabet St.1:367Particle Physics1:048Joy to the World5:259The Child With the Star on His Head15:30Disc 41I’ll Be Home for Christmas3:222Santa Claus Is Coming to Town2:413The Sleigh in the Moon1:444Sleigh Ride2:285Ave Maria2:096X‐mas Spirit Catcher3:317Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!2:178A Holly Jolly Christmas2:279Christmas Face0:40Disc 51Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas3:422It Came Upon a Midnight Clear0:393Up on the Housetop4:214Angels We Have Heard on High0:525We Need a Little Christmas2:036Happy Karma Christmas3:367We Three Kings0:528Justice Delivers Its Death3:169Christmas Unicorn12:28: Songs for Christmas×Songs for Christmas18 October 2006 · EP · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 42 tracks · 5 discsDisc 11Silent Night0:452O Come O Come Emmanuel4:013We’re Goin’ to the Country!2:174Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming3:225It’s Christmas! Let’s Be Glad!1:556Holy Holy, Etc.0:417Amazing Grace4:09Disc 21Angels We Have Heard on High0:462Put the Lights on the Tree1:483Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing4:434I Saw Three Ships2:355Only at Christmas Time2:146Once in Royal David’s City3:407Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!0:468What Child Is This Anyway?6:479Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella1:39Disc 31O Come O Come Emmanuel1:042Come On! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance!3:503We Three Kings2:594O Holy Night4:045That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!3:186Ding! Dong!0:567All the King’s Horns2:598The Friendly Beasts3:42Disc 41The Little Drummer Boy3:442Away in a Manger2:543Hey Guys! It’s Christmas Time!4:414The First Noel0:535Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)3:226The Incarnation2:237Joy to the World4:21Disc 51Once in Royal David’s City2:012Get Behind Me, Santa!3:493Jingle Bells0:364Christmas in July3:175Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming1:466Jupiter Winter3:517Sister Winter5:058O Come O Come Emmanuel1:069Star of Wonder7:0810Holy, Holy, Holy3:5011The Winter Solstice3:23, Vols. 6–10, on November 13, 2012. Silver & Gold contains 58 songs, allowing for a total of 100 when combined with his first set of Christmas albums, Songs for Christmas. To support this new release, Stevens performed in 24 cities around the United States for his 2012 tour titled "The Sirfjam Stephanapolous Christmas Sing-a-Long Seasonal Affective Disorder Spectacular Music Pageant Variety Show Disaster". On December 11, 2012, Stevens released Chopped and Scrooged, a Christmas-themed hip-hop mixtape featuring music from Silver & Gold.
As a part of Joyful Noise's 2013 Flexi Disc Series, Stevens and Cat Martino, of Stranger Cat, recorded the single "Take the Time×Take the TimeFebruary 2014 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 trackATake the Time". Martino has contributed to many of Stevens' past projects, including The Age of Adz. On March 18, 2014, Stevens released the self-titled album, Sisyphus, with Son Lux and rapper Serengeti.
In 2014, his work Run Rabbit Run, had its US premiere when performed at the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series.

Carrie and Lowell (2015–2017)

On January 12, 2015, Asthmatic Kitty Records announced that Stevens would release a new album called Carrie & Lowell×Carrie & Lowell31 March 2015 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Death With Dignity4:002Should Have Known Better5:083All of Me Wants All of You3:424Drawn to the Blood3:185Eugene2:276Fourth of July4:397The Only Thing4:448Carrie & Lowell3:159John My Beloved5:0510No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross2:4111Blue Bucket of Gold4:44. Stevens shared the first single from the album, "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross×No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross3 March 2015 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 trackANo Shade in the Shadow of the Cross2:40", on February 16, 2015. Carrie & Lowell was released on March 31, 2015. The album garnered critical acclaim upon its release. Stereogum placed the album on its best albums of the decade list in 16th place and described it as "an elegant heartbreaker of an album", while Consequence of Sound ranked it the 43rd best album of the decade, calling it "a special brew that makes even the most intimate personal moment feel parabolic".
The album follows the nuances and trials of life with Stevens' mother, Carrie, who was diagnosed bipolar and schizophrenic, was addicted to drugs, and abandoned him when he was a year old; it also includes Stevens' stepfather, Lowell Brams. Stevens also stated that the songwriting for the album was incited by his process of grieving and coming to terms with his and his mother's relationship following his mother's death due to stomach cancer in 2012. On January 26, 2015, Asthmatic Kitty Records announced a tour of North America, which began in April 2015, to coincide with the new album. Stevens also headlined the End of the Road Festival in the United Kingdom in September. On July 21, a second set of U.S. tour dates, which took place in October and November 2015, was announced.
After Stevens performed new compositions about the Solar System alongside composers Nico Muhly and Bryce Dessner in Amsterdam in April 2012, it was reported in March 2017 that the three and James McAlister would produce an album. The "80-minute concept album", titled Planetarium×Planetarium9 June 2017 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1Neptune3:052Jupiter7:103Halley’s Comet0:304Venus4:425Uranus6:526Mars7:097Black Energy5:268Sun4:009Tides0:5810Moon3:4211Pluto4:2412Kuiper Belt2:0413Black Hole0:3414Saturn3:5115In the Beginning1:1716Earth15:1017Mercury5:12, was released in July 2017. On April 28, 2017, a live album and concert film, Carrie & Lowell Live×Carrie & Lowell Live28 April 2017 · Album · LiveSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Redford (For Yia‐Yia and Pappou)3:272Death With Dignity4:063Should Have Known Better6:044All of Me Wants All of You6:295John My Beloved5:496The Only Thing5:417Fourth of July6:418No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross3:339Carrie & Lowell4:3810Drawn to the Blood4:2711Eugene2:5212Vesuvius8:1313Futile Devices3:3614Blue Bucket of Gold5:3515Blue Bucket (outro)12:4516Hotline Bling (encore)4:43 was released, featuring new interpretations, re-workings and expansions of the songs from Carrie & Lowell. In addition to the live album, Stevens announced another Carrie & Lowell companion piece, The Greatest Gift×The Greatest Gift24 November 2017 · Album · Compilation,Mixtape/StreetSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Wallowa Lake Monster6:522Drawn to the Blood (Sufjan Stevens remix)5:283Death With Dignity (Helado Negro remix)4:084John My Beloved (iPhone demo)4:175Drawn to the Blood (Fingerpicking remix)2:016The Greatest Gift1:517Exploding Whale (Doveman remix)5:278All of Me Wants All of You (Helado Negro remix)3:249Fourth of July (900X remix)6:4810The Hidden River of My Life4:0411City of Roses2:1412Carrie & Lowell (iPhone demo)1:52, released on November 24. It includes four unreleased songs from the album sessions, as well as several remixes and a demo.

Call Me by Your Name and The Decalogue (2017–2019)

In January 2017, it was announced that Stevens would contribute original songs written and recorded by himself for the coming-of-age romantic drama film Call Me by Your Name. The film was released on November 24, 2017, by Sony Pictures Classics. The soundtrack of the film features two new songs and a remix of an existing song by Stevens: "Visions of Gideon", which has been described as containing "lush orchestrations" and "staccato-heavy piano refrains", "Mystery of Love×Mystery of Love1 December 2017 · Single · SoundtrackSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Mystery of Love4:09", which was featured in the film's trailer as well as the film itself, and an "ethereal piano arrangement" of The Age of Adz track "Futile Devices". In his review of the film, Consequence of Sound writer Dominick Suzanne-Mayer praised Stevens' work as a composer on the film, noting that he "has a perfect ear for the film's portrayal of a summer that's getting shorter by the day." In January 2018, "Mystery of Love" earned a nomination for the year's Academy Award for Best Original Song. Later in the year, the song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media. The song was featured in the second season of the Netflix series Sex Education.
In December 2017, Stevens released two versions of "Tonya Harding×Tonya Harding8 December 2017 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Tonya Harding (in D major)5:052Tonya Harding (in E♭ major)4:02", a song about the figure skater of the same name. The song's video shows a clip of the eponymous skater performing at the 1991 US Figure Skating Championships. Two days later, the single was offered for digital download and streaming, to be followed later by a cassette and vinyl release, in two versions, the one featured in the video (subtitled "in D major") and a piano-only arrangement ("in E♭ major"); in a short essay, Stevens revealed his intention to write a song about Harding since 1991. According to Stevens, "I've been trying to write a Tonya Harding song since I first saw her skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1991. She's a complicated subject for a song partly because the hard facts of her life are so strange, disputable, heroic, unprecedented, and indelibly American." Stevens later revealed that the song was offered to the producers to the biographical film I, Tonya, which was released in the same period, but that they decided not to include it in the film.
In October 2018, Stevens performed and recorded with indie folk musician Angelo De Augustine a collaborative duo of the latter's "Time" single. On May 29, 2019, Stevens released two new songs, respectively titled "Love Yourself" and "With My Whole Heart", which were released in celebration of Pride Month. Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork called "With My Whole Heart" "five minutes of unabashed and (relatively) unadorned inspirational soft rock" and "Love Yourself" "similarly glowing". Pride-themed T-shirts designed by Stevens also debuted alongside the singles. He later stated that a portion of the song and shirts' proceeds would go to the Ali Forney Center in Brooklyn and the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit, two organizations which aim to help LGBT youth. In October 2019, Stevens released an album titled The Decalogue×The Decalogue18 October 2019 · Album · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1The Decalogue: I3:362The Decalogue: II1:403The Decalogue: III1:294The Decalogue: IV3:045The Decalogue: V2:376The Decalogue: VI2:557The Decalogue: VII3:018The Decalogue: VIII3:019The Decalogue: IX2:1310The Decalogue: X3:42 with pianist Timo Andres. It is based on a ballet of the same name by Justin Peck, composed by Stevens.

Aporia, The Ascension, and Convocations (2020–2022)

On March 24, 2020, Stevens released a collaborative album with his stepfather, Lowell Brams, titled Aporia×Aporia23 March 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 21 tracksA1Ousia2:33A2What It Takes3:24A3Disinheritance1:13A4Agathon3:03A5Determined Outcome2:13A6Misology1:50A7Afterworld Alliance2:47A8Palinodes0:33A9Backhanded Cloud1:26A10Glorious You1:50B1For Raymond Scott0:35B2Matronymic0:58B3The Red Desert2:54B4Conciliation1:20B5Ataraxia1:13B6The Unlimited2:15B7The Runaround3:35B8Climb That Mountain3:00B9Captain Praxis2:14B10Eudaimonia2:20B11The Lydian Ring1:03. In June, Stevens announced his eighth studio album, titled The Ascension×The Ascension25 September 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Make Me an Offer I Cannot Refuse5:192Run Away With Me4:073Video Game4:164Lamentations3:425Tell Me You Love Me4:226Die Happy5:477Ativan6:328Ursa Major3:439Landslide5:0410Gilgamesh3:5011Death Star4:0412Goodbye to All That3:4813Sugar7:3714The Ascension5:5615America12:30, along with the album's lead single "America×America3 July 2020 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1America12:30", which was released on July 3. The album's second single, "Video Game×Video Game13 August 2020 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Video Game4:162America12:30", was released on August 13, and the third single, "Sugar×Sugar15 September 2020 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Sugar7:372Video Game4:163America12:30", was released on September 15. The Ascension was released in full on September 25.
On May 6, 2021, Stevens released a five-volume album of meditation music, called Convocations×Convocations6 May 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 49 tracks · 5 discsDisc 11Meditation I3:402Meditation II2:273Meditation III4:044Meditation IV2:105Meditation V2:116Meditation VI2:167Meditation VII2:348Meditation VIII1:489Meditation IX2:1210Meditation X3:41Disc 21Lamentation I3:492Lamentation II2:253Lamentation III3:184Lamentation IV1:595Lamentation V4:116Lamentation VI4:437Lamentation VII1:528Lamentation VIII3:359Lamentation IX3:2910Lamentation X1:57Disc 31Revelation I3:212Revelation II2:543Revelation III2:014Revelation IV4:105Revelation V2:526Revelation VI3:347Revelation VII4:048Revelation VIII2:529Revelation IX4:3910Revelation X4:19Disc 41Celebration I2:202Celebration II5:563Celebration III3:104Celebration IV3:235Celebration V2:596Celebration VI4:027Celebration VII3:418Celebration VIII3:269Celebration IX1:3610Celebration X4:11Disc 51Incantation I2:172Incantation II1:593Incantation III1:374Incantation IV2:005Incantation V3:156Incantation VI1:507Incantation VII1:548Incantation VIII2:569Incantation IX4:29. On July 7, 2021, Stevens announced the release of a collaborative album, called A Beginner's Mind, that he recorded with fellow folk singer-songwriter Angelo De Augustine. On the same day, they unveiled the cover and the first two singles, "Reach Out" and "Olympus". A Beginner's Mind is a concept album, each track being inspired by a different film from either the 20th or 21st century.

Reflections and Javelin (2023–present)

On April 18, 2023, Stevens announced the album Reflections×Reflections19 May 2023 · Album · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1Ekstasis3:052Revanche5:203Euphoros3:154Mnemosyne3:285Rodinia5:526Reflexion2:587And I Shall Come to You Like a Stormtrooper in Drag Serving Imperial Realness6:34, which contains duo-piano pieces he had written for Houston Ballet. Along with announcing Reflections, Stevens released the album's first track, "Ekstasis×Ekstasis18 April 2023 · Single · SoundtrackSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Ekstasis3:05", a piece performed by pianists Timo Andres and Conor Hanick. Reflections was released on May 19, 2023, on Asthmatic Kitty Records.
On August 14, 2023, Stevens released the single "So You Are Tired×So You Are Tired14 August 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1So You Are Tired4:50", alongside an announcement for the album Javelin×Javelin6 October 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Goodbye Evergreen3:352A Running Start4:213Will Anybody Ever Love Me?4:094Everything That Rises5:005Genuflecting Ghost3:336My Red Little Fox3:437So You Are Tired4:508Javelin (To Have and to Hold)1:539Shit Talk8:3110There’s a World2:30. The record released on October 6, 2023. The record has been described as his first singer-songwriter album since Carrie & Lowell×Carrie & Lowell31 March 2015 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Death With Dignity4:002Should Have Known Better5:083All of Me Wants All of You3:424Drawn to the Blood3:185Eugene2:276Fourth of July4:397The Only Thing4:448Carrie & Lowell3:159John My Beloved5:0510No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross2:4111Blue Bucket of Gold4:44. The album includes contributions from Adrienne Maree Brown, Hannah Cohen, Pauline Delassus, Megan Lui, and Nedelle Torrisi, as well as the National's Bryce Dessner, who contributed acoustic and electric guitar for the track "Shit Talk".
On January 28, 2024, the musical Illinoise debuted at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Based on the album Illinois×Illinois4 July 2005 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 22 tracks1Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois2:092The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You’re Going to Have to Leave Now, or, “I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!”2:153Come On! Feel the Illinoise! Part I: The World’s Columbian Exposition, Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream6:464John Wayne Gacy, Jr.3:205Jacksonville5:256A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons0:487Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!3:048One Last “Whoo‐Hoo!” for the Pullman0:069Chicago6:0510Casimir Pulaski Day5:5411To the Workers of the Rockford River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament1:4112The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts6:1713Prairie Fire That Wanders About2:1114A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze0:2015The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!5:2316They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!5:1017Let’s Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don’t Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell0:4018In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth0:3519The Seer’s Tower3:5420The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders, Part I: The Great Frontier, Part II: Come to Me Only With Playthings Now7:0321Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to Name a Few0:4722Out of Egypt, Into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt From My Sandals as I Run4:22 in its entirety, and with additional music & lyrics contributed by Stevens, it was directed & choreographed by Justin Peck, who discussed the project with Stevens on and off for several years before they agreed to move forward with it. The story was written by Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury. On March 19, it was announced that the show would transfer to the St. James Theatre on Broadway for a limited time from April 24 until August 10. This production received four nominations at the 77th Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Brandon Stirling Baker, and Best Orchestrations for Timo Andres, ultimately winning one for Best Choreography for Peck.

Musical style

Stevens' sound has been most generally associated with genres such as indie folk, alternative rock, indie rock, indie pop, baroque pop, chamber pop, folk pop, avant-garde folk, lo-fi folk, and electronica. A multi-instrumentalist, Stevens is known for his frequent use of the banjo, but also plays guitar, piano, drums, woodwind, and several other instruments on his records, layered through the use of multitrack recording.

Themes

Stevens' work is known to explore themes of love, religion, outer space, and grief. His record label stated that 2010's The Age of Adz featured themes of "love, sex, death, disease, illness, anxiety, and suicide".
Despite many of his songs having spiritual allusions, Stevens does not identify as a contemporary Christian music artist or frequently discuss religion with the press. He told The Village Voice: "I don't think music media is the real forum for theological discussions. I think I've said things and sung about things that probably weren't appropriate for this kind of form. And I just feel like it's not my work or my place to be making claims and statements because I often think it's misunderstood."
During a 2004 interview with Adrian Pannett for Comes with a Smile magazine, when asked how important faith was to his music, he said "I don't like talking about that stuff in the public forum because, I think, certain themes and convictions are meant for personal conversation." In a 2006 interview, he said "It's not so much that faith influences us as it lives in us. In every circumstance (giving a speech or tying my shoes), I am living and moving and being."

Personal life

Stevens has resided in Upstate New York near the Catskill Mountains since 2019. Before this, he lived in New York City for 20 years. He is a Christian. Stevens also stated in 2005 that he attended an Anglo-Catholic Episcopal church.
In September 2023, Stevens revealed in a post on Instagram that he had been hospitalized the previous month and diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome. He wrote that he was undergoing physical rehabilitation to relearn how to walk after the illness.
In October 2023, Stevens dedicated his new album Javelin×Javelin6 October 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Goodbye Evergreen3:352A Running Start4:213Will Anybody Ever Love Me?4:094Everything That Rises5:005Genuflecting Ghost3:336My Red Little Fox3:437So You Are Tired4:508Javelin (To Have and to Hold)1:539Shit Talk8:3110There’s a World2:30 to his partner, Evans Richardson, who died in April of the same year. Richardson had served as the chief of staff at the Studio Museum in Harlem, which is dedicated to showcasing the work of black artists; in 2021 he had also been elected as chair of the accreditation commission for the American Alliance of Museums, with "a focus on diversity and access for the communities they serve". Stevens' dedication of Javelin to Richardson was the first time that Stevens had publicly discussed him or his own sexuality.

Studio albums

A Sun Came (2000)
Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001)
Michigan (2003)
Seven Swans (2004)
Illinois (2005)
The Age of Adz (2010)
Carrie & Lowell (2015)
The Ascension (2020)
Convocations (2021)
Javelin (2023)

Collaborative albums

Sisyphus (2014), with Serengeti and Son Lux
Planetarium (2017), with Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and James McAlister
Aporia (2020), with Lowell Brams
A Beginner's Mind (2021), with Angelo De Augustine

Compilation albums

The Avalanche (2006)
Songs for Christmas (2006)
Silver & Gold (2012)

Soundtrack albums

The BQE (2009)
The Decalogue (2019), with Timo Andres
Reflections (2023), with Timo Andres and Conor Hanick