Sufjan Stevens

American musician and multiinstrumentalist Sufjan Stevens was born in 1975 in Detroit, big industrial city. When he was nine, his family moved to Michigan, where the future musician began studying art seriously. Moreover, Sufjan learned how to play various instruments, from guitar and piano to vibraphone and oboe, and there is no doubt that such knowledge helped him a lot to broaden his musical horizons.

Stevens’ professional career started when he became the member of the band called Marzuki, and his debut solo album A Sun Came the performer wrote while studying in Hope College in 2000. That record presented the real kaleidoscope of ethnic music from different parts of the world, and such a variety attracted attention of listeners to Sufjan’s creativity. The second conceptual album surprised many people: Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001) turned out to be electronic and all the compositions were presented as the song cycle. Such an unexpected change of the style proved that the musician wanted and was quite able to create music of any genre absolutely freely.

In 2003 Stevens released his third record titled Michigan. That studio work was the first one (out of fifty) in his global project: the performer decided to write an album for every single state of the US. In 2004 Sufjan pleased the listeners with the studio attempt Seven Swans, and its original sound was enjoyed by numerous music lovers. Two years after the conceptual album Michigan was released, the singer’s discography was enlarged by the long play Illinois (2005). It was critically acclaimed and became the second step in the fifty states project.

In 2006 Sufjan Stevens released the album titled The Avalanche, presenting songs that were not included into Illinois. The Avalanche proved to be unusual work; however it will be incredibly interesting for the musician’s fans. Also in 2006 the wonderful long play Songs For Christmas was issued: it consisted of Christmas and New Year-themed songs, recorded by Stevens in the period from 2001 to 2006.

In 2009 the singer’s new creation titled The BQE saw the light. It got excellent reviews from the critics, and Sufjan’s fans’ expectations were completely satisfied. Traditionally strong album proved to be as fascinating as the musician’s previous studio works. In 2010 Stevens issued EP All Delighted People, created in the highest level, and there is no doubt that All Delighted People will be interesting not only for the singer’s old fans, but also for all those who are just going to get acquainted with Sufjan Stevens’ creativity. Moreover, that work prepared listeners to the musician’s new studio attempt, which was released in 2010 as well. Traditionally strong long play The Age Of Adz was critically acclaimed and the experts noted its incredible atmosphere. Stevens’ fans really enjoyed his new creation that completely satisfied their expectations.