Asthmatic Kitty US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Sufjan Stevens is nothing short of an enigma. Capable of shapeshifting in almost unfathomable ways, he's the sort of artist that can release a spellbinding and technically astounding collection of piano duets, written to score a ballet, but give tracks names like 'And I Shall Come To You Like A Stormtrooper In Drag Serving Imperial Realness'. High brow while totally accessible, his back catalogue to date is one for which you'd struggle to find anyone who doesn't appreciate, once they've taken the time to listen. Here we are then, mere months after the aforementioned song and its parent album landed, getting to grips with another very different beast. Javelin certainly shares in the beauty that ran through its predecessor - Reflections - but whereas the last LP was relatively minimalist, here things are often the opposite. Big, rousing, 1960s-70s style pop numbers, soulful journeyman acoustic with backing chorus, theatrical soft rock and plenty more besides.