Sufjan Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nominations, created several collaborative albums and has nine studio albums in his discography. He is most well-known for his contributions to the soundtrack of the 2017 drama Call Me By Your Name.
After not releasing a studio album for three years while he worked on the soundtrack for the Justin Peck ballet The Decalogue, Stevens is back with Aporia: a collaborative album with his stepfather, Lowell Brams.
Stevens and Brams have worked together before with Brams’ 2009 album Music For Insomnia. Brams is responsible for a lot of Stevens’ music education throughout his childhood. Stevens had always had a talent that Brams recognized, and he helped him further it by providing his first keyboard and 4-track recorder, as well as helping him find a record label when Stevens recorded his first album in 1999.
11 years after Music For Insomnia the duo is back with an album full of exciting, synth-filled tracks perfect for those who love electronic music or music for meditation. The entire album borders the line between pleasant and unnerving, which is a brilliant choice for an album with experimental sounds like this one.
A lot of that comes from the loose feel of the album, which isn’t typically present in Stevens’ other works. There seems to be a lot of structured improvisation throughout, making for a dignified yet free sound.
There’s a consistency throughout that makes the tracks almost seamlessly blend together, and that consistent theme is thanks to Dave Smith. As a pioneering designer for synthesizers, Smith has a very unique sound to his instruments with Tempest drums and Prophet synths. These can be heard throughout the album, bringing about that teetering sound with a fluttering nature of tracks like “Ouisa” and a jaw-clenching aura in tracks like “For Raymond Scott.”
The track titles utilize mostly Greek mythology and complex vocabulary words to send listeners in a frenzy Google searching what they mean. However, Stevens’ innate storytelling ability is not lost on an almost entirely instrumental album. Each track brings about the means for listeners to create their own mental picture of what the instrumentation is painting.
There are five tracks on the album that specifically stand out more than others. First is the intensely crafted “What It Takes,” featuring vocal lines from Cat Martino for an added effect. Next is the heart-wrenching, dreamlike “Glorious You,” followed by the ever inspirational “Climb That Mountain.” Finally, the funky drum beats and high energy of “Captain Praxis” juxtaposed with the slow-moving, calming sound from “Eudaimonia” toward the end of the album make for the perfect selections from Stevens’ latest work of mastery.
Aporia is especially satisfying for audiences because of how free Stevens sounds. The past few years have been such an emotional rollercoaster for the artist, with the death of his mother, the therapeutic album he released in 2015 working through her death entitled Carrie & Lowell and finally being able to take some time to grieve and work less than usual. This album is Stevens’ creativity and expression coming out in the most carefree way and it makes it even greater that he collaborated with his rock and go-to, Brams.
