Sufjan Stevens hadn’t put out a new album of original material since 2005’s “Illinois,” until releasing an EP and an album this year. He has done an album of outtakes from “Illinois,” a Christmas compilation and a music-motion-picture hybrid in the last five years. The latter rubbed off on his newest release, “The Age of Adz.”
At nearly 75 minutes, “Adz” comes in at the length of a short motion picture. This is not a complaint by itself, but most of the songs are long as well. “Impossible Soul” takes up the final 25:35 on the album, a short film unto itself.
Long albums are easier to digest if they’re broken up into more tracks. Concepts or obvious themes help as well. Mastodon fit seven songs into a 50-minute album last year and kept the listener’s attention by providing a story line. The lack of an anchor for listeners to latch onto makes listening to the entire new Stevens album in one fell swoop difficult.
That being said, Stevens clearly put the work into his epic. Stevens’ folk influences come through, but the majority of the album uses classical orchestration and a heavy load of electronics for the music. These three elements are impressively layered so that they mesh together nicely.
There are no official singles from the album, and that’s appropriate because none of the songs stand out as a clear single. Two songs stand out because of the increase in action as the song progresses. “Vesuvius” features vocal harmonies chiming in along with Stevens during the hook and in “I Want to Be Well,” Stevens goes as far as to say “f—.”
Instrumentally, it’s an exciting album from Stevens. But the length makes it a tough listen. Sufjan fans are used to the long songs, so it won’t be an issue. Others, not so much.
