Sufjan Stevens: the asthmatic kitty can sing

SUFJAN. The name (which, by the way, is Armenian and means "comes with a sword")alone conjures thoughts of tea, sitars, beanie hats, woven rugs, blue skies and possibly hookah.

Wait till you hear his music.

In all his musical existence, somehow Michigan native Sufjan Stevens evaded my general knowledge until recent times. And I have to say,
I'm glad I met him.

Still somewhat "under the bridge" in the mainstream music world, and originally signed under Asthmatic Kitty Records, Stevens has garnered a state-of-the-art cult following among indie, folk, ethnic and alternative Christian listeners.

What's neat to me, about him, is the way he carries himself as a personality in the modern music industry. The titles he gives his songs often declare open rebellion to any form that you can make sense of, as well as rooted familiarity with Biblical faith. He successfully pulled past disheartening criticism of his music early on, and carries on to this day in a confident and uncharted manner. Even the photographic expression in his eyes matches the cool, unrushed, untethered, vintage depth of his songs.

At times, such as when listening to "The Avalanche", I found myself slightly annoyed by some peaks and shrills in his demure voice, or possibly the repetitious floating twangs. But in spite of that, he grew on me. His signature voice is overall very calming in accompaniment with the eastern-ish folk instrumentals.

Ranging lyrically with subject matter about everything from Christmas to God to backyards to Chicago to dresses, Sufjan has truly bloomed in his God-given talents and I have a feeling, is on the way to a bigger and brighter future than his contemporaries may have expected.
-Bethany Pace