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Jun 30, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens has announced a new album, The Ascension, and will be releasing its first single, 12-minute long closing track “America,” this Friday. With a title like “America,” its timed release the day before July 4th is likely no accident. It will debut at 9 a.m. ET via a video. The Ascension is due out September 25 via Asthmatic Kitty and is described as the official follow-up to 2015’s widely acclaimed Carrie & Lowell. Check out the album’s tracklist and cover art below.

Stevens has released plenty of music in the five years since Carrie & Lowell, but he hasn’t released a straight up solo album since then. In 2017 he teamed up with Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner (of The National), and James McAlister for the collaborative album, Planetarium, which centered around space and the planets. The same year he also released a mixtape entitled The Greatest Gift, which featured unreleased outtakes, remixes, and iPhone demos from Carrie & Lowell.

Stevens also performed at the 2018 Academy Awards, doing “Mystery of Love,” a song written for the film Call Me By Your Name that was nominated for Best Original Song (but didn’t win). In 2019 he teamed up with the composer/pianist Timo Andres to release the soundtrack to the ballet The Decalogue. The same year he also shared the new songs “Love Yourself” and “With My Whole Heart,” in honor of Pride Month.

Back in March of this year Stevens teamed up with his stepfather Lowell Brams for the new collaborative instrumental album Aporia, via Asthmatic Kitty. Stevens and Brams, who co-founded Asthmatic Kitty together in 1999, had been working on Aporia for several years, when Brams would visit Stevens at his New York home. The album was narrowed down from hours and hours of jam sessions.

The Ascension Tracklist:

1. Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse (5:19)
2. Run Away With Me (4:07)
3. Video Game (4:16)
4. Lamentations (3:42)
5. Tell Me You Love Me (4:22)
6. Die Happy (5:47)
7. Ativan (6:32)
8. Ursa Major (3:43)
9. Landslide (5:04)
10. Gilgamesh (3:50)
11. Death Star (4:04)
12. Goodbye To All That (3:48)
13. Sugar (7:37)
14. The Ascension (5:56)
15. America (12:30)

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