SUFJAN STEVENS
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Albums reviewed:
2005 – Illinois (9)

Did you get the edition with Superman TRADEMARK on it?!? Did you!?! Oh you lucky bum. They removed it soon after the first prints... My 'Illinois' is devoid of its superhero, damn! This must be the most recent album I ever review! Hasn't even been out for 3 months yet! Oh yeah, by the way, I didn't bother typing the full song titles up there, they're indie-type long name jokes, good ones that is. And, for the clueless, Sufjan Stevens' goal is to make an album about every State of the USA. He has done other albums that were not related to this project, so up to now he has only done Michigan and Illinois. Of course, he will NOT succeed, don't even ask yourself. I like the concept, even though it's really geeky at first, the albums do work beyond parodies, and 'Illinois' is ample proof of that.

Sufjan Stevens uses a wonderful instrumentation on his album. Acoustic guitar of course (and electric once in a while), string quartet, trumpets, small voice ensembles. They gather in something that I could describe as indie-proggy-folkish soft music. They deliver a feel of Illinois on a plate. Sufjan isn't trying to do this subtly. The disk itself has a contour of the state on it, the space where the disk goes in the box has the state's motto, the booklet is full of drawings showing Abraham Lincoln, John Wayne Gacy Jr. in his clown outfit, a corn farmer with a banjo and a red cardinal bird, etc. The lyrics actually talk about Illinois, and they're not cheesy at all. Some of the lyrics touch on Sufjan's christianity, but very lightly; anyone annoyed by that is probably the liberal equivalent of Ann Coulter (does that make sense? I didn't mean to say you looked like Michael Moore, sorry). There are many small tracks on the album that do not really need to have a name by themselves, but they're useful for a joke with the track's name (One Last Woo-Hoo is exactly what the title says, for instance). This is to say that the presentation of the album is special and works towards this objective of conveying the feeling of the state presented.

Now as for the music, it is impeccable. The only complain I have is probably the length of the album. Over 70 minutes is always too much for me. But I get the feeling that while I personally think this is too long, it is one of the few albums that can justify this length. And it is still shorter than 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' or 'The Wall' you know... Anyways, Sufjan Stevens has a rather breathy voice, and it can be annoying for some. But his sense of melody is impressive. The way he combines the voices, and arranges his songs is simply breathtaking. Just listen to the chorus to the wonderful Chicago "all things go, all things go!". A song about freedom. It makes you want to take the road in a van, with your friend, even though you know that maybe in the end, you'll still be in a similar situation... Another highlight is the song telling the story of serial murderer John Wayne Gacy Jr., who sometimes dressed as a clown to amuse children, but in the end, killed and raped over 30 boys (teens mostly). It is a soft song mourning for both murderer and murdered, and is quite touching. The centre of the album's music is often the acoustic guitar, backed with light trumpet sounds. It is both soft and louder at times, but the louder is usually on the side of uplifting melodies. There are also clever musical arrangements like in They Are Night Zombies!!. Those beats are often quite complicated, hidden behind apparently simple melodies... The arrangements and melody changes are what you must concentrate on, also consider the lyrics of course, to be taken to Illinois, but if you put it as background music, you will find that the sound does not vary in general because of the constant instrumentation. 'Illinois' deserves the headphones. In the end though, just listen to those chori! (which I guess is the plural of chorus...). It is a fabulous album that, I hope, will influence the pop scene a bit. It does get quite a lot of attention right now. I don't understand why those songs won't play on radio. It is not perfect, I know he has the capacity to do an album that is even better than that, probably by varying the sound a bit, or making it shorter, I don't know. 'Illinois' is THAT close to being perfectly focused, except it is not quite there. See you next time Sufjan, hopefully with California, Maine, Alaska, or something like that, just don't do Delaware or Wyoming yet, that can wait honestly. For now we're happy to explore the streets of Chicago, the corn fields and their UFOs, the gloomy house of John Wayne Gacy Jr., and look at Sears tower (Seer's Tower, you twit!) from afar, all of this at night of course, I don't know why, but much of this album seems to happen at night. Damn album covers.

Simon Lac, September 10th 2005