New Sufjan Stevens All Delighted People EP Gives a Nod to Classic Rock

You know I have loved Sufjan Stevens ever since a Michigan-native roommate let me listen to his collection, way back in the day. My favorite album to date has been Seven Swans, a delicate, beautiful EP, all awash in ethereal folk that makes you want to lie back in a green meadow and watch the sunlight filter through oak leaves.

That’s the way most Sufjan albums make me feel. And I really enjoy the gentleness and soft-focus wonder of his best tracks. But it’s not the only kind of music I enjoy. Sometimes you just need a song to get your blood up, to make you feel bothered and disorderly. And the All Delighted People EP produces those feelings in spades. It’s a little down and dirty, reminiscent of really good classic rock (and not just because the title track lifts half its lyrics directly from Simon & Garfunkel), but also clearly a Sufjan Stevens record with his blend of strangeness and alien beauty and unlikely pairings of instrument and theme.

And in the end, maybe you end up in that green meadow anyway, but the light you’re watching in the oaks is the sun coming up after an epic night of love and fights and good rock and roll.

My point being: This bothered and disorderly guitar solo:

Djohariah

And this song makes me lose my mind. Sort of like a track from Tommy or Hair:

All Delighted People (Original Version)

*Image courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty and Marzuki Stevens*