I don't know why, but I had the mistaken impression that Sufjan Stevens put out "romantic" bubble gum pap. I was really wrong. This is really good. Very very interesting song titles (e.g., "The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!'") There's a lot of complicated things going on here. And a significant amount of creepiness. Oddly and inexplicably, I am experiencing a sense of dread. This is not background music. It requires that you devote an hour and 14 minutes to paying attention. Is it a symphony? The Sergeant Pepper of the 2000s? Although I don't particularly LOVE every song, I enjoyed the listening experience very much. There's just so much going on (did I already say that?). Vocals (lead and background), instrumentation, everything together... very nice. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ __________________________________ 🎧 LPs reviewed: 40 🎧 LPs left to review: 961 🎧 LPs I found great/relevant enough to be mandatory listens (5): 10 🎧 LPs I *might* include in my own list (4): 14 🎧 LPs I will certainly *not* include in mine (1-2): 10