Carrie & Lowell

Carrie & Lowell is the seventh studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens. It was released on March 31, 2015, by Asthmatic Kitty. It was produced by Stevens, and features guest contributions from Thomas Bartlett, Sean Carey, Casey Foubert, Ben Lester, Nedelle Torrisi, and Laura Veirs.

Carrie & Lowell
A weathered photograph of a man and woman with the album title and artist written on the image in white
Studio album by
Sufjan Stevens
ReleasedMarch 31, 2015 (2015-03-31)
Recorded2014
Studio
Genre
Length43:35
LabelAsthmatic Kitty
Producer
Sufjan Stevens chronology
Silver & Gold
(2012)		 Carrie & Lowell
(2015)		 Carrie & Lowell Live
(2017)
Sufjan Stevens studio album chronology
The Age of Adz
(2010)		 Carrie & Lowell
(2015)		 The Ascension
(2020)
Singles from Carrie & Lowell
  1. "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross"
    Released: February 16, 2015
  2. "Should Have Known Better"
    Released: March 11, 2015
  3. "Carrie & Lowell"
    Released: March 17, 2015

Unlike Stevens' previous album, the electronic The Age of Adz (2010), Carrie & Lowell features sparse instrumentation, with critics noting it as reminiscent of the performer's earlier indie folk-inspired material.[1] Lyrically, the album sees him explore the fallout from the 2012 death of his mother Carrie, and the relationship between Stevens and Carrie’s second husband Lowell Brams, who helped Stevens found Asthmatic Kitty.

Carrie & Lowell was supported by the lead singles "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross" and "Should Have Known Better". The album saw word-of-mouth marketing through its one-week preview on NPR,[4] and after the song "Death with Dignity" featured in the video games Life Is Strange 2 (2018) and The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (2018). Stevens later supported the album through the Carrie & Lowell Tour, which spanned North America, Europe, and Australasia.

Carrie & Lowell received immediate widespread critical success, with many labeling it Stevens' best, and it was routinely named among the best albums of 2015 in many publications' year-end lists.[5] Commercially, Carrie & Lowell debuted and peaked at number ten on the US Billboard 200 with 53,000 equivalent album units, of which 51,000 came from pure sales; as of July 2015, the album has sold 105,000 units in the US,[6] with almost half sold on vinyl.[7]

Recording

The songs on the album were recorded in 2014 at Stevens' office in Dumbo, Brooklyn and Pat Dillett's studio in Midtown Manhattan. Some of the songs were also recorded in Oregon, at Portland's Flora Recording & Playback and on an iPhone in a Klamath Falls hotel room. A few songs were also tracked in Oklahoma, at Norman's Blackwatch Studios, and in Wisconsin, at Eau Claire's April Base Studios.[1][8] The songs were inspired by the 2012 death of his mother, Carrie, and the family trips they took to Oregon in Stevens' childhood.[9] Stevens' mother, who suffered from depression, schizophrenia, and substance abuse, abandoned him when he was a year old. According to Stevens, recording the album helped him come to terms with her death and provide closure.[10] The album title also references his stepfather, Lowell, who helped co-found Stevens' record company Asthmatic Kitty.[1]

The album was produced by Thomas Bartlett, known as Doveman, a musician and friend of Stevens who had recently lost a brother to cancer. Of Bartlett's production role, Stevens said, "Thomas took all these sketches and made sense of it all. He called me out on my bullshit. He said: 'These are your songs. This is your record.' He was ruthless."[11] In the same interview, on the emotions in the album's recording process, Stevens said:

"I was recording songs as a means of grieving, making sense of it. But the writing and recording wasn't the salve I expected. I fell deeper and deeper into doubt and misery. It was a year of real darkness. In the past my work had a real reciprocity of resources—I would put something in and get something from it. But not this time."

Commercial performance

Carrie & Lowell debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 with 53,000 equivalent album units; it sold 51,000 copies in its first week,[12] with the remainder of its unit count reflecting the album's streaming activity and track sales.[13] The album also debuted at number 10 on the Canadian Albums Chart with sales of 4,400.[14] As of July 2015, Carrie & Lowell has sold 105,000 copies in the United States,[6] with 44,900 of its total having been sold in the vinyl configuration.[7]

As of June 2017 it was certified silver by British Phonographic Industry for 60,000 sold units in UK.[15]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.8/10[16]
Metacritic90/100[17]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[18]
The A.V. ClubA[19]
The Daily Telegraph[20]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[21]
The Guardian[22]
The Independent[23]
NME9/10[24]
Pitchfork9.3/10[25]
Rolling Stone[26]
Spin8/10[2]

Carrie & Lowell received universal acclaim from critics, noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 40 reviews. It was the second-best rated album of 2015 on the site.[17] Album of the Year surveyed 42 critics and gave Carrie & Lowell a 90 out of 100, making it the third-best reviewed album of the year;[27] AnyDecentMusic? summed up critical consensus as 8.8 out of 10, based on 43 reviews.[16] In 2020, Consequence of Sound ranked several of Stevens' studio albums, with this one as the best.[28]

Andrew Hannah of The 405 proclaimed that "Carrie & Lowell is just the latest in a long line of unimpeachable achievements."[29] In his review for Pitchfork, writer Brandon Stosuy wrote, "Sufjan Stevens' new album, Carrie & Lowell, is his best."[30] Stephen Carlick of Exclaim! called the record "a quietly triumphant return for Stevens, announced not by fireworks but by a series of small, elegant moments that reach for the heart."[31] Writing for The Boston Globe, James Reed praised the album's lyrics as well as the instrumentation, writing that he would listen to just the instrumentals.[32]

Accolades for Carrie & Lowell
Publication Accolade Year Rank
The A.V. Club The 15 Best Albums of 2015 2015 3[33]
The A.V. Club The 50 Best Albums of the 2010s 2019 15[34]
The Guardian The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 2[35]
The Guardian The 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century 2019 37[36]
Musica Neto The 100 Best Albums of 2015 2015 1[37]
NME NME'S Albums of the Year 2015 2015 24[38]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 6[39]
Pitchfork Readers' Top 50 Albums 2015 2[40]
Pitchfork The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s 2019 17[41]
HMV Best of the Year 2015 2015 1[42]
Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2015 2015 12[43]
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 5[44]
OOR Album of the Year 2015 1[45]

Track listing

All songs written by Sufjan Stevens

  1. "Death with Dignity" – 3:59
  2. "Should Have Known Better" – 5:07
  3. "All of Me Wants All of You" – 3:41
  4. "Drawn to the Blood" – 3:18
  5. "Eugene" – 2:26
  6. "Fourth of July" – 4:39
  7. "The Only Thing" – 4:44
  8. "Carrie & Lowell" – 3:14
  9. "John My Beloved" – 5:04
  10. "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross" – 2:40
  11. "Blue Bucket of Gold" – 4:43

Personnel

Performance

Technical personnel

Carrie & Lowell Live
Carrie & Lowell Live
Live album by
Sufjan Stevens
ReleasedApril 28, 2017 (2017-04-28)
RecordedNovember 9, 2015
VenueNorth Charleston Performing Arts Center, South Carolina
GenreIndie rock, indie folk, synth-pop
Length88:47
LabelAsthmatic Kitty
ProducerSufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens chronology
Carrie & Lowell
(2015)		 Carrie & Lowell Live
(2017)		 Planetarium
(2017)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic91/100[49]
Review scores
SourceRating
The Independent[50]
Pitchfork7.7/10[51]
Sputnikmusic[52]
Under The Radar7.5/10[53]

Carrie & Lowell Live is a live album and concert film released on April 28, 2017 through Asthmatic Kitty. It was recorded live at North Charleston Performing Arts Center, South Carolina on November 9, 2015 during the Carrie & Lowell Tour. The performance was filmed and produced by We Are Films and features many new interpretations, re-workings, and expansions of the songs from Carrie & Lowell.[54] The full concert film was made available to stream for free on Vimeo and YouTube.

  1. "Redford (For Yia-Yia and Pappou)" – 3:27
  2. "Death with Dignity" – 4:07
  3. "Should Have Known Better" – 6:04
  4. "All of Me Wants All of You" – 6:30
  5. "John My Beloved" – 5:49
  6. "The Only Thing" – 5:42
  7. "Fourth of July" – 6:41
  8. "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross" – 3:34
  9. "Carrie & Lowell" – 4:38
  10. "Drawn to the Blood" – 4:27
  11. "Eugene" – 2:52
  12. "Vesuvius" – 8:14
  13. "Futile Devices" – 3:36
  14. "Blue Bucket of Gold" – 5:35
  15. "Blue Bucket Outro" – 12:46
  16. "Hotline Bling" (Drake cover, encore, featuring Gallant) – 4:44

Charts
Weekly sales chart performance of Carrie & Lowell Live
Chart (2016) Peak
position
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[55] 39

Charts

Certifications
Sales certifications for Carrie & Lowell
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[84] Gold 10,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[85] Gold 100,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
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