SUFJAN STEVENS - THE AVALANCHE. DAY 10

SUFJAN STEVENS - THE AVALANCHE

Ouch. This album hurts and I haven’t even listened to it yet. I bought it at ‘The Grove’ in West Hollywood a few years ago. I was going through a stage where I’d listened to nothing but Snow Patrol for the 3 months preceding and there’s this line in one of their songs: 

‘put Sufjan Stevens on, and we’ll play your favourite song’ 

So I started to wonder who Sufjan Stevens was, and if I was into him would it solidify the potential future relationship I was about to have with Snow Patrol’s lead singer when we met by chance in a bar on a day when I was looking particularly hot. This was the only sufjan album they had at the music store and it was cheap so I bought it and didn't listen to it for the next 4 years. Till now. 

Music reminds you instantly of things that make you happy or you’d rather forget and this album does the latter. I was on a trip with my brother that was THE WORST HOLIDAY EVER. He stiffed me on money, refused to pay me back, lied to me and that was at the start of a 3 week trip. I would have left and done my own thing but I didn't have the money to leave. In the end was putting $3 dinners on my credit card and living off vending machine food. I was saving my last $30 of cash to pay for the trip back to the airport and away from that hell. 

What made it worse is, at the time I was drinking those frappuccino’s from Starbucks and little did I know they were turning me into a bloated marshmallow man. This was pre soy option and pre veganism. So, depressed and broke I locked all reminders of the hellish trip away from sight, wincing whenever I caught a glimpse of this record. 

Busy day today so I listened in the car and felt like a massive loser when I realised Sufjan Stevens did the song from ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. This album is leftover tracks from those recording sessions and there’s three versions of ‘Chicago’ to listen to on repeat if you’re feeling whimsical. 

If you like Zach Braff and anything he’s done then you’ll like Sufjan. If you like folk music then you’ll like Sufjan. If you like Nickleback however, then you will need to go a long hard look at yourself. 

Now that this CD is out of quarantine I’ll be listening more often. Chicago reminds me of the time my car horn got stuck on and I had to drive home waving back or throwing my hands in the air at pedestrians who thought I was honking at them. It also has this feeling of summer and highways and freedom. Like the first few days of summer vacation when anything is possible.