For those aging fans of ultimate hipster Sufjan Stevens, the time has come for new work. This single, from the forthcoming album The Age of Adz, continues Stevens’s long history of multi-layering and multi-instrumentation. Opening with a synthesized drumbeat, the airy vocals come in asking, “For I deserved more / For at least I deserved the respect of a kiss goodnight.” This might mark how far from the albums Illinois or Michigan Stevens has come. But listeners should take heart in the creativity, the backing vocals and the soaring soundscapes that Stevens traverses in this single. Those who have heard A Sun Came… might worry that this treads too close to the art house, yet for all his state-hopping, Stevens really pulled out the stops. Stevens might have found a new muse in the celestial arenas, but he manages to stand firm. Download I Walked for free at http://tinyurl.com/sufjan-i-walked.

Published in Volume 65, Number 2 of The Uniter (September 9, 2010)