Convocations

Sufjan Stevens has a new instrumental album releasing soon. Convocations is a massive 2½ hours, broken into 49 tracks spanning 5 distinct "sonic cycles".

Described as a requiem mass for our present times of difficulty, it rises and falls with vocals, electronic swells, and strings. From what I've heard none of it seems recycled from his other works, but definitely evokes previous albums such as Carrie & Lowell.

You can listen live, on his YouTube channel, to the different cycles on separate days. Each is accompanied by generative visuals. Today is "Meditations" (embedded below).

Like most of his work it has a highly personal reason for existing...

In fact, Stevens made Convocations in response to (and as an homage to) the life and death of his biological father, who died in September last year, two days following the release of The Ascension. It is, then, ultimately an album about loss, and an album that reflects a year in which we have all lost so much.

At $30 it's a big purchase, but I did just add it to my wishlist.