by Narayan Saimbi
Sufjan Stevens’ discography is eclectic, to say the least. Jumping from the raw Americana of Michigan, to the experimental Planetarium, Sufjan covers a wide range of genres and themes within his works. However, the album that stands out to me the most has to be Carrie and Lowell; the culmination of Sufjan Stevens’ emotions following his mother’s death in 2012.
If you missed it, Sufjan re-released the album last Friday, alongside some demos and outtakes that didn’t make the final cut. However, these discarded tracks serve only to elevate Carrie and Lowell to a whole other level, furthering the sense of intimacy and vulnerability that the project already brings.
“Death with Dignity” and “Should’ve Known Better” were already incredibly intimate and tear-jerking, but the rawness of the demos increases this sentiment tenfold. “Death with Dignity” is stripped back to only the acoustic guitar and Sufjan’s sole vocal, losing all the harmonies and other instrumentals in the original piece. “Should’ve Known Better” starts off with a similar fashion but adds layered pads, vocable harmonies and a small synth line. These complement Sufjan’s sole topline vocal, rather than muddy the mix or distract from Sufjan’s message. Overall, both these demo tracks display both the raw emotion and creative process that went into Carrie and Lowell, and complement the final album incredibly well.
“Eugene” is another track which gets stripped back slightly from the original. The demo starts with layered vocals, with the topline melody being just as pronounced as the harmonies. Whilst the final version does tone down these harmonies in the mix, the simplicity of the demo’s mix evokes the senses in a different manner. When listening, one feels captured by the melody and the song as a whole, picturing Sufjan’s hometown of Oregon and his connection to his mother more vividly. This is not to say the final version is lacking anything in particular, but this version simply portrays the message of the song in a more intimate manner. That’s probably my overall sentiment surrounding these demos and outtakes; it’s not fair to do a true comparison between the demos and final versions, but rather one should use the demos to further the appreciation of the project as a whole.
Whilst there is a demo of the infamous “Mystery of Love” on this list, the final song I will talk about is the other version of “Fourth of July” that was contained in the outtakes. Whilst “Mystery of Love” contains abundant references to Oregon, “Fourth of July” is both the track that has the most meaning for me and is probably the best single track to sum up Carrie and Lowell, as it references the actual death of Sufjan’s mother and his emotions in the immediate aftermath.
This version of “Fourth of July” starts so much more stripped back than the original, with only single piano notes accompanying Sufjan’s lead vocals. However, as the song progresses, vocal harmonies are added, as well as the song as a whole opening up massively around the 3:30 mark. I should add that a major difference between the final version and this one is the length of the track; the final version is 4:39, whereas this outtake is almost a staggering 14 minutes. This track is the complete collection of all the emotions Sufjan feels surrounding his mother’s death, with the dark instrumental and repeated phrases in this track serving as the empty void that grief leaves in your heart, and the fear of death that follows it. In my mind, this extended version of “Fourth of July” is one of the best insights into the internal process of grief in music, with the demo tracks as a whole elevating Carrie and Lowell’s status as a project sky high for both the message it portrays and its manner of doing so.
Carrie and Lowell (10th Anniversary Edition) is available on all streaming platforms. If you enjoyed this piece, take a listen to it. It’s perfect in almost every way.
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