Sufjan Stevens – Illinois

For many, 2004 provided the first introduction to the microcosmic world of Sufjan Stevens, with the rightfully lauded release of his fourth long-player, Seven Swans. In its wake came a flurry of touring (with Iron & Wine and Rosie Thomas) and a benevolent disgorgement of his back catalogue (with expanded editions of his fledging debut, A Sun Came! and his renowned third album, Michigan). Wrapped within all these releases and live shows came a wide canon of material – not to mention a self-mythologizing promise to release a record in homage to all 50 American states – that deserved diligent and detailed listening. In fact, nobody would have been surprised or exasperated if Stevens had slept his way through 2005 – because at least we could all play a good game of ‘catch-up’. But of course, Stevens is no idler, so thanks to his highly protestant work ethic comes the release of his fifth album – another double-length feature. Weighing in at a hefty 22 tracks, with paragraph-long song titles (so please excuse the abbreviations from hereon in) and another conceptual celebration of another American state, Illinois begs the question: can you have too much of a good thing?

On the surface, the answer could be in the affirmative, given that Illinois has many of the markings to make it essentially Michigan 2. It possesses the same lavish string and brass arrangements, the return of backing girl choirs, and more of the rhythmic fluidity that made Michigan the widescreen treat it was. Yet, give it a deeper inspection and you’ll find that Illinois is no lazy facsimile. The whole breadth of the Sufjan Stevens back catalogue is poured into the melting pot – except for perhaps the electronic stylings of Enjoy Your Rabbit – as well as a smattering of new ingredients. There’s certainly key elements here from the elastically eclectic A Sun Came! along with streaks of the same stark spiritual fuel that fired Seven Swans. There are also some fresher influences at play, a greater songwriting confidence, and maybe even a newborn groove-like edge to proceedings.

To begin with, though, Stevens throws not one of his party pieces but instead he gently ushers us into our seats with an impossibly pretty piano-based Nick Drake-like meditation on an alleged alien encounter, with “Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois.” The grandiose strains of “The Black Hawk War…” and “Come On! Feel the Illinoise…” soon make it clear, though, that this a pop record at heart, and a bloody big-sounding one at that, like a neo-folk Polyphonic Spree with twice the range but with less than a third of the personnel on the payroll. However, there’s still some room for the rural dread that underpinned Seven Swans, to add some depth, as proven with the ensuing “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.,” a chilling musing on the real-life Chicago businessman turned serial killer of the same name. Also, some banjo-assisted country-folk rears a head on the laid-back rustics of “Decatur…”, and the dainty “Casimir Pulaski Day” hints at an awkward youthful sexual awakening worthy of Smog’s Bill Callahan or Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch.

A bit further in and a Thrill Jockey-friendly ambient jazz instrumental “To The Workers of The Rock River Valley Region…” marks a mellowed-out midpoint in proceedings before sliding into the euphoric stomp of “The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts,” the joyful medievalism of “Prairie Fire That Wanders About,” and then, a few tracks later, the symphonic Stax soul of the swooning but bizarre “They Are Night Zombies…” With all this swirling rich diversity – and an incurable urge to read up on the multitude of name-checked historical figures – by the time you make it to the drone-driven dreaminess of the two closing instrumental pieces, frankly you’ll be glad of something that soundtracks a nice lie-down.

Exhausting, enthralling, disorientating, celebratory, and contemplative, Sufjan Stevens has delivered another album that will keep us listening and educated till Christmas. Yes, of course, there’s too much here, but shelving half the included material would have made Illinois much less the much-hear head-spinner that it unashamedly is.