Music

Sufjan Stevens' upcoming Christmas albums close the circle on things he'd rather do than finish his 50 states project

by Tyler Munro

Remember when Sufjan Stevens said he was going to continue the path set out with Michigan and Illinois with albums for all 50 states? And remember when we were dumb enough to believe him?

Announced earlier today, his upcoming Christmas boxset Silver & Gold is just another notch on the list of things he’s done instead of putting his money where his mouth is. Obviously he was never going to get albums done for all fifty states, because who is he, Ryan Adams? But even a little bit of follow through would have been nice.

Sure, it’s cute hearing him sing a nonsensical 12-minute Christmas song (below) about a Unicorn with a lazy-eye, billy goat beard and a credit card on its wrist, but the newly announced set is five EPs, volumes 6-10 in a collection he started in 2006. Fittingly, that was the first project he endeavoured on after Illinois, meaning it’s now or never, dude.

Let’s look at how things have taken shape since:

In 2006, he released Songs for Christmas—42 songs across 5 EPs.

In 2009, he released The BQE, which featured for more minutes of new music.

In 2010, he released the All Delighted People. That’s another 8 songs—7 if you count the title track’s two versions as one. Later that year came The Age of Adz, a 74-minute mess that polarized fans and critics alike with its left-of-centre sound and daunting runtime. And now this, Silver & Gold, the release that seals the deal and solidifies that no matter how hard we wish for it, we’ll never see albums for Delaware or New York. It’s been 7 years. We should let it go. Oh, and this box set costs $120. Just in case you were wondering.[via Pitchfork]