First Impressions of Sufjan's New EP

And you pushed yourself to the floor
And the Spirit went where it went
Hovering, discovering and covering your life on the floor
And the walls were wet with your love
For the mother is, the mother is
the glorious, victorious, the mother of the heart of the world

Don't be ashamed, don't hide from me now
For the woman is, the woman is
the glorious, victorious, the mother of the heart of the world
Djohari, Djohariah
-Sufjan Stevens, "Djohariah"

I don't recall hearing that Sufjan Stevens was coming out with a new record. I had hardly even thought about him in the past three years or so. But as of this past morning Pitchfork is streaming the 60-minute "EP" All Delighted People in its entirety. I planned to listen to the beginning of the first track before going to bed. I've now listened to it one and a half times. I could be wrong about this, but on first listen All Delighted People EP is my early pick for album of the year and maybe even one of the best albums of the decade.

He's been working on it this whole time. You could call it "chamber pop," but that would be like calling Moby-Dick a novel: the genre designation it technically fits into it simultaneously shreds into nothing. This album never stops giving. As soon as you're ready for something new to happen, something new happens--but rather than just a new idea, it's a new elaboration on the same idea, surprising but obvious in retrospect. It's always becoming new and at the same time always remaining how it was, and it keeps this up almost flawlessly for sixty minutes. Forget catharsis, forget skeletal lamping; this is musical kenosis. Like Djohariah, the single mom transfigured into "the mother of the heart of the world," like Christ on the cross, Sufjan has emptied himself. He has poured every last drop of himself into this album, and even so it somehow still sounds effortless. I feel like I know now how people must have felt the when they first put on Revolver back in 1966.

Grizzly Bear is over--they could never make something like this in a million years. The Dirty Projectors might aspire to such heights in an album or two, and I wish them success. I have faith in the xx as well, eventually. And in my wildest dreams I can imagine Kanye's new album being this good. The Arcade Fire are playing a different game now, although I still wouldn't put it past them. But for now, All Delighted People EP is the greatest record in the world--and you can download it here for $5.