Here's a review of Sufjan Stevens' apocalyptic new album, The Age of Adz, that I wrote for my school newspaper. This was the first time I really received a lot of public feedback on an article; at one point, a week after its publication, it amassed over 120 online hits within the course of a few hours. Before I post the review, though, I'd like to respond to a comment someone left online for me. It read: "I am relieved to read such a review where the answer is more for the reader to discover. I commend you for being so humble. I am curious as you listen further if your view evolves to love or hate of the album." Here's the thing: I never hated The Age of Adz, even when my initial impression was somewhere between "what the hell?" and "he's a madman." At the same time, I never loved it...still don't. Funny thing is, it may be 2010's finest release thus far, not in terms of accessibility but in terms of sheer, passionate quality. My final word on Sufjan's new opus: The Age of Adz doesn't need to be loved. Instead, it demands respect. Demands it.
Two issues ago, I concluded a review of Sufjan Stevens' new EP by writing: "If "I Walked," our first cold, dubstep-influenced taste of [Stevens' upcoming album] The Age of Adz, is any indication, Mr. Stevens is only about to get stranger." And I was right. Adz - pronounced "odds" - stems from the same seed that Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes planted to produce 2007's dark masterpiece Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer. In short, this is the sound of indie's finest singer-songwriter relinquishing his roots and reinventing himself at the expense of his own sanity. He means serious business, too. Stevens' website describes the new collection of tracks as "unusual...for its lack of conceptual underpinning...in a tapestry of electronic pop songs." Two for three, Sufjan, two for three: first of all, The Age of Adz is far removed from pop; secondly, he's clearly getting at something here, even if he himself isn't sure what it is. Unusual, though - now we're talking.
Consider for a moment art as a piece of electronic equipment...say, a laptop. Imagine immersing the computer in water, just for a split second, and then observing its slow failure step by step. Perhaps, at first, there are no distinguishable differences. [The Age of Adz is equally deceptive; delicate acoustics and half-whispered vocals - our final reminders of Sufjan's folk-laced past - permeate Adz' opening couple of minutes] Soon, though, the laptop undoubtedly exhibits malfunctions. Within half an hour all hell breaks loose as the screen becomes a breeding ground for glitches. There is no control. All hope for control vanished the very second water entered the picture. With The Age of Adz, Sufjan has gone for a swim - a long, long swim in who knows what, and the result of such contact can only lead to a spiraling death.
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| Sufjan Stevens |
It is true that The Age of Adz continues the apocalyptic themes introduced on All Delighted People, but the apocalypse is not of this world. It is of Sufjan Stevens himself. On album highlight "Vesuvius," an existential crisis channeled through Radiohead's Kid A, Stevens weakly wails, "Sufjan, follow the path. It leads to an article of imminent death" over a thin layer of electronics and orchestration that builds to a chaotic wall of sound. Lyrically, Stevens has never been so unsure of his surroundings. Confusion, self-deprecation, apology, and contradiction...all are present in his stream-of-conscious ramblings. The frightening thing is that he has lost his mind and is totally aware of his self-detonation. His response? Tear it all down, everything - his music, his character, his ambitions, everything. In the end, he's nothing but a cold auto-tuned specter bemoaning his inability to feel peace because of the "stupid man in the window." It's a horrific transformation.
Now, as the reviewer, I am placed in the uncomfortable position of having to attribute to this record any merit [or lack thereof] housed within its sound bytes. Unfortunately for you, reader, The Age of Adz is the hardest album I've ever had to review; one thing I can say for sure is that it will prove incredibly divisive, and therefore I will refrain from scoring it or from rating it. Will you enjoy it if you're a fan of Stevens' previous output? Honestly, I don't know...after ten straight listens I still have no idea what's going on in this man's head. I can promise you this: The Age of Adz is a genuinely insane projection of independent artistic vision in a time when the term "independent" is becoming increasingly casual. So give it a shot. Drift to it, scowl at it, cry to it, feel it, dance to it. "It's not so impossible."
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