Carrie & Lowell

Carrie & Lowell
A weathered photograph of a man and woman with the album title and artist written on the image in white
Studio album by Sufjan Stevens
Released March 31, 2015
Recorded Mid-2014
Studio Stevens' home studio in Brooklyn[1]
Genre Indie folk
Length 44:35
Label Asthmatic Kitty
Producer Sufjan Stevens, Thomas Bartlett
Sufjan Stevens chronology

Silver & Gold
(2012)		 Carrie & Lowell
(2015)

Carrie & Lowell is the seventh studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens, released through Asthmatic Kitty on March 31, 2015.[2] Unlike Stevens' last studio album, the electronic The Age of Adz, Carrie & Lowell is sparsely instrumental and marks a return to the performer's indie folk roots.[1] The album was given a one week preview on NPR.[3]

The album was released to high critical acclaim, with many critics calling it one of Stevens' best.[4]

Recording

The simple folk tunes on the album were recorded in 2014 at Stevens' home studio in Brooklyn.[1] The songs were inspired by the 2012 death of his mother, Carrie, and the family trips they took to Oregon in Stevens' childhood. The album title also references his stepfather.[1]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at #10 on the Billboard 200, slightly below the debut of his previous album, Age of Adz, which debuted at #7, selling 36,000 copies in its first week. However, Carrie & Lowell became his largest debut at 53,000 units, with pure album sales over the 36,000 Age of Adz produced. The album also debuted at #10 on the Canadian Albums Chart, with sales of 4,400.[5]

Critical reception

Carrie & Lowell received rave reviews upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an average score of 91, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 39 reviews.[6] Andrew Hannah of The 405 proclaimed that "Carrie & Lowell is just the latest in a long line of unimpeachable achievements." [7] In his review for Pitchfork Media, writer Brandon Stosuy wrote, "Sufjan Stevens' new album, Carrie & Lowell, is his best."[8] Stephen Carlick of Exclaim! called the record "a quietly triumphant return for Stevens, announced not by fireworks but by a series of small, elegant moments that reach for the heart."[9]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 91/100[6]
Review scores
Source Rating
The 405 [7]
AllMusic [10]
Consequence of Sound A[11]
Drowned in Sound 9/10[12]
Exclaim! 8/10[9]
The Guardian [13]
Pitchfork Media 9.3/10[14]
Slant Magazine [15]

Track listing

All songs written by Sufjan Stevens.

CD

  1. "Death with Dignity" – 3:59
  2. "Should Have Known Better" – 5:07
  3. "All of Me Wants All of You" – 3:41
  4. "Drawn to the Blood" – 3:18
  5. "Eugene" – 2:26
  6. "Fourth of July" – 4:39
  7. "The Only Thing" – 4:44
  8. "Carrie & Lowell" – 3:14
  9. "John My Beloved" – 5:04
  10. "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross" – 2:40
  11. "Blue Bucket of Gold" – 4:43

Vinyl LP

Side A
  1. "Death with Dignity" – 3:59
  2. "Should Have Known Better" – 5:07
  3. "All of Me Wants All of You" – 3:41
  4. "Drawn to the Blood" – 3:18
  5. "Fourth of July" – 4:39
Side B
  1. "The Only Thing" – 4:44
  2. "Carrie & Lowell" – 3:14
  3. "Eugene" – 2:26
  4. "John My Beloved" – 5:04
  5. "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross" – 2:40
  6. "Blue Bucket of Gold" – 4:43

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 11
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] 68
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 33
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[20] 6
French Albums (SNEP)[21] 50
German Albums (Official Top 100)[22] 51
New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[23] 27
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[24] 9
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[25] 30
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 27
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 29
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 6
US Billboard 200[29] 10

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Dombal, Ryan (February 16, 2015). "True Myth: A Conversation with Sufjan Stevens". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ Modell, Josh (January 12, 2015). "Sufjan Stevens Announces New Album, out March 31". A. V. Club. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  3. ↑ Stevens, Sufjan (March 22, 2015). "First Listen: Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell". NPR. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ Horn, Adam. "Sufjan Stevens Just Proved He's So Much More Than a Musician". Mic (media company). Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ Cross, Alan (April 9, 2015). "Weekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: 08 April 2015". Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Critic Reviews for Carrie & Lowell". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hannah, Andrew (March 16, 2015). "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". The 405. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  8. ↑ Stosuy, Brandon (March 30, 2015). "Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Carlick, Stephen (March 27, 2015). "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  10. ↑ Deming, Mark (March 30, 2015). "Carrie & Lowell – Sufjan Stevens". AllMusic. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  11. ↑ Geffen, Sasha (March 24, 2015). "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  12. ↑ Skinner, James (March 24, 2015). "Album Review: Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  13. ↑ Hann, Michael (March 26, 2015). "Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell review – a delight in every way, and an album of the year". The Guardian. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  14. ↑ Stosuy, Brandon (March 30, 2015). "Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  15. ↑ Caldwell, Caleb (March 17, 2015). "Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell". Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell" (in French). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Officialcharts.de. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Spanishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Sufjan Stevens. Retrieved April 9, 2015.

External links