I’ve been wanting to dig into Sufjan Stevens, at least beyond surface level, for a while now. I knew I would love his discography, as it is incredibly rare for me to not like music, but especially so considering Stevens’ has had a cult following for over two decades. With such a large, dedicated fanbase, it is hard not to be intrigued. It has not been an inconsistent or inactive twenty-odd years, either, Stevens has averaged almost an album every single year, exactly twenty-two albums over twenty-four years. That is not only mind-blowing, but also entirely unheard of for an artist of Stevens’ caliber. I realized while brainstorming for this review that I was going in fully blind. With so much music to compare this album to, I thought it would be valuable to have first-year Ava Franzwa, who is a Stevens fan, give a different perspective.
“Javelin” serves as a return, of sorts, to a type of music Stevens had moved away from in recent years. “A lot of Stevens’s recent work has been more instrumental, so I was really excited when I heard that Javelin was going back to the singer-songwriter vibe of some of his older stuff…” Franzwa said. The limited smatterings I had heard of his discography prior were almost exclusively from that first singer-songwriter era, so the surprise of seeing the switch is not as shocking as it maybe should have been. Even though Illinois is Franzwa’s personal favorite of Stevens’ albums–and her favorite album by any artist, for that matter–she is still a big fan of his newer work and thoroughly enjoyed Javelin. “Javelin” is also a project dedicated to Stevens’ late partner Evans Richardson. In an Instagram post announcing the album’s release, Sufjan said that Richardson “was an absolute gem of a person, full of life, love, laughter, curiosity, integrity, and joy. He was one of those rare and beautiful ones you find only once in a lifetime — precious, impeccable, and absolutely exceptional in every way.” “Javelin” is an even more remarkable album due to the fact that Stevens finished and released it while rehabbing from paralysis onset by Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disease where the body’s immune system attacks the nerves.
In terms of musicality, this album is incredible, and what Stevens can do to really build out a song is incredible. The often acoustic foundation of each track does not limit the depth in the slightest, with layers that range from gentle guitar plucks to driving kicks to industrial-esque synth stabs and melodies. Every cinematic soundtrack-worthy piece is bound together by Stevens’ soft, almost fragile-sounding voice, floating on the top of the arrangement. “Stevens combines the simple, folky feel of ‘Carrie & Lowell’ (2015) with some of the electronic sound of ‘The Age of Adz’ (2010) and ‘The Ascension’ (2020). It feels like the perfect culmination of what Steven’s has been putting out over the past decade or so, and I really love it,” Franzwa said. This album is, in my opinion, also an incredible fall album, which makes for some great timing for a first listen.
In terms of standout songs, it was incredibly difficult (and still is) to pick specific tracks to highlight. Franzwa was able to narrow down to two favorites, “So You Are Tired” and “Shit Talk.” The former of the two being her favorite song off of the album, she elaborated that “the masterful songwriting, breathtaking instrumentals, and soaring choir make for a beautiful song that reminds [her] of the extravagance found in a lot of tracks from Illinois.” For me, “So You Are Tired” is a light and expansive pouring-out of the heart that still manages to strike powerfully about an ended relationship.
This song also shows off Stevens’ masterful use of building up and bringing down a song, making great work of crescendos/decrescendos to really push and pull towards an emotional peak. Regarding “Shit Talk,” it’s the longest song on the album by a sizable margin, which just gives Stevens more room to construct and expand a scene with large instrumental movements. The repeated chants of “I don’t wanna fight at all” throughout a large portion of the track echoes the remorseful feelings evoked by everything from guitar strumming to distanced, semi-discordant brass. The lengthy outro is also a really nice transition into the hopeful, forward-facing final song on the album, Stevens’ cover of Neil Young’s “There’s A World.”
Overall, this album is a great listen that doesn’t sacrifice any emotional depth for its amazing sound or vice versa. The only major thing holding “Javelin” back from a perfect ten for both Franzwa and myself is the electronic parts occasionally being out of place, but I’d rather have that than no electronic elements. “Javelin” is a project that both longtime fans and new listeners can appreciate and enjoy.