Indie songwriter releases second Christmas album
Sufjan Stevens is having an identity crisis.
The indie singer-songwriter made his name with emotive lyrics and a gossamer voice, but in 2010, Stevens took a turn.
With “Age of Adz,” a challenging, but rewarding, listen, his style shifted from banjo and guitar to synthesizer and keyboard. Suddenly, he was producing glitchy music that didn’t lose its lyrical depth.
On his latest release, “Silver & Gold,” a five-EP followup to his 2006 collection of Christmas music, he’s split between those identities.
That’s because he’s been recording it progressively since “Songs for Christmas” was released — producing one EP each year as a gift to family and friends. And over time, his styles shift, bit by bit.
For the most part, he still offers beautiful renditions of classic carols, but on other tracks, he reaches for the whimsical or casts them in distorted treatments.
Among those, it’s obvious when Stevens is having fun, but they tend to overreach. His rendition of the classic “Good King Winceslas” and Prince’s “Alphabet St.” revert to his “Age of Adz” style on the third EP, and errs toward a rock sound on the second, with “Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling” and “Mr. Frosty Man.”
But sorting through the collection’s 58 songs, the carols don’t have much staying power. Instead, “Silver & Gold” shines when Stevens writes original content.
And it does because Stevens loves Christmas. A lot — it takes a certain devotion to produce the sheer volume of Christmas music he does.
On “Christmas in the Room,” he offers some insight into the root of his obsession. It isn’t the joy of opening presents (a “Songs for Christmas” standout describes his dad burning gifts in a bout of anger) or the excitement or the shopping. It’s the people.
“No travel plans, no shopping malls, no candy canes, no Santa Claus,” he sings on “Christmas in the Room.” “It’s just the two of us this year.”
That’s what sets Stevens’ work apart on whole, too. “Age of Adz” didn’t succeed because of its experimentation, but for its self-reflection. “Illinois” and “Michigan” weren’t carried by his voice so much as his storytelling.
And in “Silver & Gold,” it’s comforting to hear that he hasn’t forgotten it — even if he does have a penchant for the weird and whimsical.
Take “Christmas Unicorn,” the twelve-and-a-half minute closer. It’s weird, as the title suggests, but it manages to get over its superficial quirkiness and hint at a symbolic look at the culture of Christmas — “hysterically American” shopping, for example, far removed from its roots in Christianity.
And as that track weaves through flourishes of flutes and bits of electronic bleeps, he shows glimmers of his past sound and infuses it with reminders of more recent work.
Like “Silver & Gold,” it’s not quite a return to form, but it’s getting there.