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10.0
74313
10.0 |
State
In Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan is singing about emotions that are dug out of him and matters that most of us will recognise. The pain and perplexity of mourning; the validation that parental love alone equips us with as kids, that can’t be found anywhere else; the search for identity
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10.0
74354
10.0 |
Pretty Much Amazing
This is a challenging record of raw and visceral emotions, and its consistency of tempo and even-keeled volume makes Stevens’ pain all the more heartbreaking and unsettling
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10.0
74360
10.0 |
The Guardian
A delight in every way, surely one of the albums of the year
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-
10.0
74351
10.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
Stevens has unearthed a wonder altogether more tremendous than the one at the top of those towers he used to stack
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10.0
74390
10.0 |
Evening Standard
This whispered, exquisite collection is so fragile that you daren’t open a window in case it blows away forever
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10.0
74488
10.0 |
The Arts Desk
A sparse, beautiful and gut-wrenching album
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-
10.0
74489
10.0 |
Loud And Quiet
A musical and emotionally cathartic triumph
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-
10.0
74526
10.0 |
A.V. Club
Carrie & Lowell finds Sufjan Stevens sitting down for a long conversation with Death, and he’s brought just minimal accompaniment: gentle acoustic guitar, occasional piano, virtually no drums
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10.0
74667
10.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
See review
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9.5
74573
9.5 |
Paste Magazine
A demonstration of why Stevens sings songs, of why we listen to songs: to feel less alone, to make sense of the things that are hardest to make sense of
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9.5
74315
9.5 |
The 405
As long as Stevens continues to pursue the unanswerable and chase down myths and ghosts, he'll continue to make incredible music. Carrie & Lowell is just the latest in a long line of unimpeachable achievements
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9.3
74468
9.3 |
Pitchfork
In the past he'd get showy with multi-part suites or huge arrangements; the writing here is just as ambitious, but never showy
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9.0
74388
9.0 |
Uncut
A gauzy soundscape of unerring beauty. Print edition only
-
9.0
74465
9.0 |
No Ripcord
The sincerity in Stevens’s voice is what elevates Carrie & Lowell from sermonizing drivel
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-
9.0
74492
9.0 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
The only thing separating this record and perfection is the time it will take you to fully digest its depth and overall profundity
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9.0
74587
9.0 |
The Quietus
The feeling that abides is one of compassionate admiration for Stevens, not only for making this beautiful album of unfaltering rawness (and one which may even provide a crutch, a brutal one, for others), but for all of his work that has preceded it
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9.0
74487
9.0 |
Beardfood
Sufjan just might be the best songwriter around
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9.0
74509
9.0 |
NME
One of Sufjan’s most fat-free and consistently stunning records, but also his darkest
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9.0
74314
9.0 |
Slant Magazine
He's never produced an album this nakedly autobiographical, so stripped of complex conceptual trappings
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9.0
74318
9.0 |
musicOMH
He has bravely laid his songwriting gifts bare in their purest form
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9.0
74312
9.0 |
Clash
It may well be our first insight into the real Sufjan. It's heavy, but so very beautiful
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9.0
74352
9.0 |
Drowned In Sound
A collection of songs as captivating, poignant and finally, ultimately, redemptive as any that Stevens has produced
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9.0
74593
9.0 |
The Music
His most accessible work for years, a mausoleum-esque beauty
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8.5
74348
8.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Despite its light-handed approach, Carrie & Lowell strikes with a sort of urgency unparalleled across the composer's 15-year career
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8.5
74479
8.5 |
Under The Radar
Musically, Carrie & Lowell has stripped away Age of Adz's irritated electronic squawks and bellows and the joyous instrumentation of Illinois to bare the truth
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8.2
75112
8.2 |
Earbuddy
You will not hear a song on Carrie & Lowell without holding your breath the moment Sufjan speaks
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-
8.0
74805
8.0 |
FasterLouder
A beautiful and sincere meditation on loss, grief and human connection
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8.0
74485
8.0 |
DIY
By going through it all, by exposing all the pain, Sufjan’s created something beautiful and vital
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-
8.0
74496
8.0 |
Exclaim
It's Stevens' own life and relationships that he mines here with his trademark deftness and nuance
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-
8.0
74502
8.0 |
The Independent
The overall gentle, delicate texture of the album is like a gossamer shroud of solace cast over a period of deep confliction
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-
8.0
74508
8.0 |
The FT
The artist’s music makes a virtue of simplicity with its folksily plucked instruments and sighing vocals
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-
8.0
74589
8.0 |
Spin
Carrie & Lowell is such a deeply, deeply personal statement from Stevens that its smallness sometimes shows. Though it’s easily his best and most powerful album since 2005’s Illinois
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-
8.0
74551
8.0 |
The Skinny
There's a real beauty to Carrie & Lowell that shines through the darkness
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-
8.0
74560
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
Stevens strips his sound far enough to reveal his deepest anguish
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-
8.0
74570
8.0 |
All Music
Stevens has offered us some fine albums in the past, but he's never made anything quite like Carrie & Lowell
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8.0
74337
8.0 |
NOW
While death and pain are major players in this collection of songs, the record is more about love than tragedy - although it can still make you bawl your eyes out if you listen to the words closely enough
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8.0
74316
8.0 |
Time Out
Despite soul-baring moments, it almost feels like we learn more about Carrie than we do her son; he remains a beautiful enigma
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-
8.0
74460
8.0 |
The Observer
This is an album about forgiveness, about love in the face of past incalculable hurts
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8.0
74362
8.0 |
The Irish Times
It’s an album that you’ll need time to process, but it’s an achingly beautiful tribute
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-
8.0
74386
8.0 |
Q
He mines saddest memories and strikes gold, unquestionably his finest album to date. Print edition only
-
8.0
74387
8.0 |
Mojo
A tender, affecting album that through its jumble of religious allusions,nature imagery and sense of loss has a simple message
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-
6.0
74546
6.0 |
PopMatters
The trouble isn’t that Stevens hasn’t mastered this brand of wispy folk-pop—it’s that he has, on album after album, leaving little that’s new to explore
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