“Javelin” sees indie folk icon Sufjan Stevens finding peace and hope in his rather uncertain world. It’s been a rough year or so for Sufjan, I mean “rough” is still putting it lightly. This past April, Sufjan’s partner Evans Richardson passed away. This album, in turn, is dedicated to him and the loving relationship they shared. This September, Sufjan also announced that he had been hospitalized and diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome. He has since been going through physical rehabilitation to relearn how to walk.
With these major life events in the back of my mind, it gave me a truly out-of-body listening experience. To put it this way, “Javelin” on the surface could seem like a hard pill to swallow, but it goes down way easier than expected.
The entire record is full of blissful, calming indie folk instrumentals while Sufjan’s words are so poignant and intricate. The opening tracks “Goodbye Evergreen” and “A Running Start” capture this tone perfectly, as both simultaneously feel like the start of a crisp autumn day and an indie teen movie. “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” and “Everything That Rises,” moves the narrative forward quite well with more feelings of regret yet also acceptance. Sufjan feels directionless even though he knows he must move on. The entire album also has great use of a backing choir and these tracks are some of the best examples of it.
Fan favorites “My Red Little Fox” and “So You Are Tired” serve as a great start to the latter half of the album. Both seem to address Sufjan’s past relationship directly but in two completely different moods. “My Red Little Fox” is a more clear-cut love song while “So You Are Tired” deals more with the couple’s issues and differences, expressing how they’d feel if they were to go their separate ways. This leads perfectly into the penultimate masterpiece “Shit Talk.” The culmination of all the topics explored on the album so far come to fruition in this 8 minute opus. The entire idea of the song is how Sufjan wants to rekindle his relationship as much as he can. “No more fighting, no more talking shit” he yearns as the underlying guitars, synths, and choir begin to build. Through so many twists and turns, Sufjan finally feels fulfilled and content. He is able to move forward as he sings, “Hold me closely, hold me tightly.” The track starts to fizzle out with the gorgeous repeated refrain “I don’t want to fight at all,” along with heavenly layered synth chords. The album’s epilogue comes in the form of a cover of “There’s a World” by Neil Young. It reinforces the album’s overall goal and themes in a great way.
I’ve listened to this record several times now and still feel like there’s so much to unpack. From all his pain, loss, and hardship, Sufjan was still able to craft a phenomenal and hopeful piece of art. I just hope that whatever’s next for him will be full of happiness and warmth.
My rating: 9.1/10
