Sufjan Stevens’ “Convocations” is a sprawling, poignant tribute to his late father
The five-volume, two-and-a-half-hour album offers a powerful musical meditation on grief
By Sean Maunier
on
May 10, 2021
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Sufjan Stevens — Photo: Evans Richardson, colorization by Melissa Fuentes
Never one to shy away from an intimidating track-length, Sufjan Stevens has decided to apply that focus to an entire album.
Convocations (★★★★☆) is his second album of pure electronica in as many years, following last year’s
Aporia. There are plenty of superficial similarities between the two albums, but where the last album had a meandering, improvisational feel to it,
Convocations is a recording with far more structure and purpose. Created to pay homage to his late birth father, whose death came two days after the release of