Javelin, by Sufjan Stevens

Javelin

by Sufjan Stevens

supported by

Jackie Still reliably delivering shivers after all these years.

Dominic Saraceno could be any track. Fabulous stuff!" Favorite track: Will Anybody Ever Love Me?.

Charlie Moonbeam I've been a fan from the beginning, and this may be the greatest achievement of Sufjan's career.

A work that cements Sufjan as one of the greatest songwriters and artists of our time. Favorite track: Will Anybody Ever Love Me?.

more...

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$10 USD or more

1.	Goodbye Evergreen 03:35		buy track
2.	A Running Start 04:21		buy track
3.	Will Anybody Ever Love Me? 04:09		buy track
4.	Everything That Rises 04:59		buy track
5.	Genuflecting Ghost 03:32		buy track
6.	My Red Little Fox 03:42		buy track
7.	So You Are Tired 04:49	lyrics	buy track
So you are tired of us So rest your head Turning back fourteen years Of what I did and said So you are breathing disaster I did what I was told But I was a man born invisible Was it something I said Or some kind of joke? So you are tired as the sun Are you with or without a friend? Bring me back everything Caught in your shield Let everything else descend So you are seething with laughter Was it really all just a joke? I was a man indivisible When everything else was broke So you are tired of even my kiss So go back to your den Throwing out everything Left in your field When there was nothing Left to defend So you are dreaming of after Was it really all just for fun? I was the man still in love with you When I already knew it was done So you are tired of me So rest your head Turning back all that We had in our life While I return to death
8.	Javelin (To Have And To Hold) 01:52		buy track
9.	Shit Talk 08:31		buy track
10.	There's A World 02:29		buy track

about

Over the course of his career, Sufjan Stevens has blurred distinctions between the major and the minor, between the details that color our existence and the big events that frame our lives. He has turned historical footnotes of States into kaleidoscopic pop, and rendered the immeasurable grief of loss with intimacy and grace.

His new album 'Javelin'—Sufjan’s first solo album of songs since 2020’s The Ascension and his first in full solo singer-songwriter mode since 2015’s Carrie & Lowell—bridges all these approaches. Sufjan uses the quietness of a solitary confession to ask universal questions in songs we can share communally.

Where The Ascension, lauded by The New York Times as “a cry of despair and prayer for redemption,” used ornate but urgent electronics to square up to its moment, 'Javelin' begins more like a self-portrait, detailed yet plain. Yet whether listened to individually or as an album, these 10 songs become something much bigger, the entire experience of Sufjan’s 25-year career expressed in four-minute bursts. Choral, orchestral, and electric wonder: it all shows in 'Javelin', all of it animating these songs as full spectacles. In each song we hear the vulnerability and candor of quiet starts, then Sufjan raising the stakes.

At times, 'Javelin' has the feel of a big team album production—but it is decidedly not: almost every sound here is the result of Sufjan at home, building by himself what sometimes feels like a testament to classic ’70s Los Angeles studio recording sessions. There are indispensable contributions from a close circle of friends; the harmonies of five singers who afford 'Javelin' so much frisson: adrienne maree brown, Hannah Cohen, Pauline Delassus, Megan Lui, and Nedelle Torrisi. Bryce Dessner plays acoustic and electric guitar on “Shit Talk.” And, of course, Neil Young wrote the tender and mystic closer, “There’s a World.”

And speaking of the world: there is a permeable sense of world-building imbued in every corner of 'Javelin', especially in the 48-page book of art and essays that accompanies the album. With a series of meticulous collages, cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds, and iterative color fields, Sufjan builds order from seeming chaos and vice versa. And toward the middle of it all are 10 short essays by Sufjan, another window into the process that informed 'Javelin'.

On 'Javelin', Sufjan returns as we may know him best, offering vulnerable reflections on love and relationships, so that in listening we may see ourselves more fully.

credits

released October 6, 2023

adrienne maree brown sings on “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?“ “Everything That Rises,“ “Genuflecting Ghost,“ “My Red Little Fox,“ “So You Are Tired,“ and “Javelin (To Have And To Hold).“

Nedelle Torrisi sings on “A Running Start.“

Pauline Delassus sings on “Shit Talk.“

Bryce Dessner plays acoustic and electric guitars on “Shit Talk.“

Megan Lui and Hannah Cohen sing on “Goodbye Evergreen,“ "A Running Start," “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?“ “Everything That Rises,“ “My Red Little Fox,“ “So You Are Tired“ “Javelin (To Have And To Hold),“ “Shit Talk,“ and “There’s A World.“

Sufjan Stevens performs everything else.

This album was recorded, engineered, arranged, produced and mixed by Sufjan Stevens.

Mastered by Heba Kadry, NYC.
Vinyl mastering by Josh Bonati.

All original artwork, collage, painting, photography, typography, layout and design by Sufjan Stevens.

Thanks to: Adrienne, Nedelle, Pauline, Megan, Hannah, Bryce, Evans, Lisa, Lowell, John, Tom, Robert, Mark, Jane, Nick, Stephanie, Heba, Josh, Neil Young and Jesus.

license

about

Sufjan Stevens New York, New York

Sufjan Stevens is a singer-songwriter living in New York City.

sufjan.com

contact / help

Contact Sufjan Stevens

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Sufjan Stevens, you may also like:

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
by Big Thief

supported by 664 fans who also own “Javelin”

Berklee represent! Comm Ave forevaaaa Jay Hodgson
go to album
Punisher
by Phoebe Bridgers

supported by 650 fans who also own “Javelin”

Most certainly a future classic. fatalataf
go to album
the record
by boygenius

supported by 525 fans who also own “Javelin”

Currently stands as my absolute favorite project of 2023, a monumental achievement for all the members involved. Never have I heard an album so easily able to shake me to my core, and yet so deeply cathartic and powerfully uplifting. A triumph above all else. Outer Estate
go to album
JULIA
by Juice Webster

The Melbourne singer-songwriter's captivating debut balances dreamy indie folk with driving, emotional rock. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 20, 2023
go to album
Full of Moon
by Georgia Mooney

The Australian singer's debut solo album is filled with creative indie pop tracks. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 1, 2023
go to album
FIRE RED
by Yokai Jem

Loosely structured around the Pokémon game of the same name, “Fire Red” is hushed and layered indie folk. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 29, 2023
go to album
A Light for Attracting Attention
by The Smile

supported by 522 fans who also own “Javelin”

Radiohead, freed of being Radiohead and soaring. Nice to hear guitars again. Not a favorite tracker, but not a weak one in this masterful baker’s dozen. JB
go to album