Sufjan Stevens‘ new album Javelin is out next month via Asthmatic Kitty, and it finds him back in stripped-back singer-songwriter mode, which is definitely apparent on the second single, “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” It’s a gorgeous track that swells with orchestration and a choir of harmonies, provided by adrienne maree brown, Hannah Cohen, and Megan Lui. Sufjan produced and played every instrument on the track, and you can watch the video, directed by regular collaborator Stephen Halker, below.
“The first time I sang the song I started crying, I was so moved by the honesty of the questions,” adrienne maree brown says. “Sufjan is an impossibly brave and gifted writer.”
“Being in the studio with Sufjan is like watching an alchemist at work,” Hannah Cohen adds. “He creates a new realm, building our voices from a gentle choir, then morphing us into sirens raging from the sea.”
“‘Will Anybody Ever Love Me?’ felt like a glimpse into Sufjan’s past records but spins into an epic collage of voices and instruments,” Megan Lui says. “His vision of melody and composition are astonishing and working with him and Hannah in the room was pure joy.”
“This piece serves as an exploration into the intricate landscapes of the human psyche, akin to an open invitation to wander through the vast emotional domains of the mind,” Stephen Halker says. “It illustrates the journey from surface-level facades to the profound yearnings, vulnerabilities, and fixations that reside within the human heart. I was playing with this concept by putting these two dimensional collaged icons into three dimensional spaces that slowly become less and less tethered to the real world. We can never truly know each other, we all just live with our own somewhat flattened interpretations of those around us. The less we are deeply known, the less we can be deeply loved. Will anybody ever love me? I don’t know.”
Independent record stores throughout the world are hosting Javelin listening parties on October 3 (North America) and September 19 (outside North America). They’re free to attend, and wristbands will be available in advance to reserve a spot, with the first 30 attendees at each getting a poster. The NYC event is at Rough Trade. See the North American listening parties below, and find all parties here.
SUFJAN STEVENS: JAVELIN NORTH AMERICAN LISTENING PARTIES: OCTOBER 3, 2023
Philadelphia, PA @ Repo Records – 5pm
New York, NY @ Rough Trade NYC – 6pm
Atlanta, GA @ Criminal Records – 4pm
Chicago, IL @ Reckless Records, Milwaukee Ave. – 5pm
Chicago, IL @ Reckless Records, Belmont Ave. – 5pm
Nashville, TN @ Grimey’s – 4pm
Austin, TX @ Waterloo Records – 7pm
Toronto, ON @ Sonic Boom Records – 6pm
Vancouver, BC @ Neptoon Records – 5pm
Montreal, QC @ Le Vacarme – 5pm
Wilmington, NC @ The Fuzzy Needle Records and Books – 6pm
Charleston, SC @ J. Stark – 5pm
Chattanooga, TN @ Yellow Racket Records – 6:30pm
Toledo, OH @ Culture Clash – 6pm
Seattle, WA @ Easy Street Records – 6pm
Indianapolis, IN @ Luna Music – 6pm
Halifax, NS @ Obsolete Records – 2pm
Orlando, FL @ Park Ave CDs – 7pm