Sufjan Stevens "All Delighted People EP"

While people have been debating which state was getting the Sufjan-treatment next, after the huge success of Illinois and Michigan, Stevens has kept busy. In 2009 he wrote a symphony about New York's Brooklyn-Queens Expressway entitled The BQE and performed it at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Opera House. Later in 2009 he released a new version of his Enjoy Your Rabbit record rearranged for strings and re-titled Run Rabbit Run.

So it should be of some surprise that Stevens had time to create, and that no one was even expecting, a brand new album. All Delighted People was released on his website just yesterday; completely out of the blue and with no marketing buzz. Yet by late afternoon he was the #1 trending topic on Twitter. It's really an amazing story and we don't need to wait for the sales numbers to say that it was a success.

The real gem on this release is the title track. It's an 11 minute epic that culminates in a rising fury of strings. The other songs are classic Sufjan: folk, storytelling style, religious allusions, etc. A must for any music fan.

Must hear: All Delighted People (Original)

(Release Date: 8/20/10)