Due to COVID-19, Sufjan Stevens has dropped his album early to warm up your time in isolation, and the whole project is inspired by movies like Blade Runner and Hereditary.
Sufjan Stevens is delivering the soundtrack to another planet with his new sci-fi electronic album Aporia. Stitched together from jam sessions with Stevens’s stepfather Lowell Brams, Aporia is available to stream on YouTube before its official release date of March 27.
Asthmatic Kitty, the record label run by Stevens and Brams, issued a statement on their decision to release the project early:
“We had originally scheduled to release Sufjan & Lowell’s collaborative new-age record this Friday, March 27, but since things are uncertain for record stores right now, we’ve decided to release Aporia today,” a statement from the two musicians on Asthmatic Kitty’s website explains.
“The word ‘aporia’ is Greek in origin, literally meaning ‘without passage’ or ‘at a loss.’ This is a good description of how many of us feel right now,” the statement continues. “We harbour no delusions of grandeur—this record is hardly the most important thing in your world right now—but we also believe that music is sacred and has the ability to bring beauty, wisdom, truth, and light to our lives in difficult times. We hope this music can bring you meaning, hope and encouragement today.”
Half of the album’s proceeds will benefit the charities No Kid Hungry and Partners In Health.
Watch the video for “The Runaround” below.
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“The 21 songs on Aporia are tightly crafted, resonating with a gem-like intensity. In the spirit of the New Age composers who sanded off the edges of their synths’ sawtooth waves, Aporia approximates a rich soundtrack from an imagined sci-fi epic brimming with moody, hooky, gauzy synthesizer soundscapes,” a press release included with the stream reads. “The album may suggest the progeny of a John Carpenter, Wendy Carlos, and Mike Oldfield marriage, but it stands apart from these touchstones and generates a meditative universe all its own.”
Blade Runner, Hereditary, Under the Skin, and The Last Temptation of Christ have all been cited as influences for the new album. So, honestly, it’s not exactly the soothing folk balm of Illinois or the emotional catharsis of Stevens’s contributions to Call Me By Your Name, but if Aporia helps you get through COVID-19 self-isolation, Sufjan and Lowell are here for you.
