Although he’s no longer trying to put out an album for all 50 states, indie singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens has managed to one-up his previous levels of ambition with The Age of Adz (pronounced “odds”). He has devoted the almost entirely electronic album to either something concerning the dehumanizing nature of culture today or something equally grandiose.
Interpretation is up to the listener.
Everything is doused in electronic squeals and buzzes. Though Stevens still employs plenty of orchestral instruments, rarely are they not a part of some electronic bombast that always has some sort of sinister nature.
Maybe most surprising is how ostensibly strange this album is. Many of the songs have an intentionally difficult beginning. Songs such as “Age of Adz” are introduced with what sounds like an electronic marching band.
Even Stevens’ voice is different. It sounds stronger — or at least employed in a few more ways. He gets downright nasal on the title track and then later uses Auto-Tune.
“I’m not f—ing around!” he repeats on “I Want to Be Well.” The Age of Adz will not bring around anyone who thinks Stevens is too precious for their tastes, but the songwriter is certainly eager to break into new territories.
Mixed in with the new abrasiveness are more hooks than Stevens has even written before. On the anthem “Get Real Get Right,” group chants and instrumental grooves come at a greater pace than ever before. On “I Walked,” Stevens chills out for an ethereal, New Age ballad.
Some of the album’s forced abrasiveness is more indicative of Stevens’ ambitions than necessary, though the moments are few.
There are very few songs here to listen to as stand-alone tracks. The 25-minute “Impossible Soul” is not one of them.
Stevens repeats the idea from The Avalanche, where he released several different mixes of “Chicago” from Illinois. “Impossible Soul” remixes the refrain several times, so the chorus eventually becomes very annoying — and it’s all intentional.
At 74 minutes, the album is best absorbed at once, if only to properly hear how dramatic and theatrical Stevens becomes. Despite an absence of singer-songwriter storytelling, the album progresses like any good linear narrative.
As with Illinois, the constant re-appropriation of sounds leave things fairly ambiguous about what is ironic and what is not on The Age of Adz (especially for those of us who can only hear Auto-Tune ironically).
Like any good folkster, Stevens seems to relish going a little against the grain when it comes to modern music. Beloved and famous as he may be, The Age of Adz comes nearly five years after his last original album, and even considering the periodic B-sides and side projects, Stevens has waited an eternity in today’s time for a new album.
But unlike most other musical retrofitters, Stevens is eager to break away from the past and intent on making a complete album worth talking about.
RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars
waldo@umdbk.com
