I like this

this rules

'Merica urba durr

Stuffedjams Stevens

I don't have time for a 12 minute song right now but I'm beyond hyped

Oh shit

Not sure how I feel about this yet. I like the climactic chorus around 5:45 and the outro is beautiful, but it still doesn't feel like it warrants being 12 minutes long, which was my main issue with Planetarium. It's good but I'm not sold the way I was when he debuted Carrie & Lowell with "No Shade In The Shadow of the Cross".

I think the ambient ending will feel earned when it's capping an 80 min record, so I'm reserving judgement on the length. I find the lyrics intriguing, though I'm still figuring out which perspective he's singing from in the chorus. I like the 'Sufjan breaks up with God' interpretation, but then the "don't do to me what you do to yourself" line doesn't make sense. It's one of his saddest songs imo. Working with the Dessners rubbed off on him, I get Sleep Well Beast vibes from the drab/dour tone.

I give this song a 4/5. Not immediately stunning like "My Rajneesh" (out next Friday). That's maximalist Sufjan at his best, pure ecstasy.

Yeah I'm excited to hear it in the proper context. I think it's pretty clearly a song about loss of faith - whether it's faith in God or America is uncertain to me (lyrics seems to point to the former, that one line notwithstanding, which alone isn't enough to dissuade me from the 'breakup with God' theory).

Impossibly gay

Definitely a massive improvement on Aporia

Is this anything like that really long FJM song

Releasing a 12 minute album track as the lead single - I like his style. I also like the track. It feels like a return to Age of Adz-era maximalism with a new lyrical angle.

Weird that this has been out 4 days and has 14 comments. What happened to the days when the entire site would collectively orgasm when Sufjan did anything?

Both America and My Rajneesh sound more like Planetarium to me than anything else. I love both.