Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell

(Paperback)

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Upon the release of Sufjan Stevens seventh studio album, Carrie & Lowell, two opposing groups found themselves as strange bedfellows: the LGBTQIA+ community and American evangelical Christians. Both were united in praise for Stevens beautifully melancholic music.

Critically acclaimed as one of the best albums of 2015, the elegiac and intimate record about the death of Sufjans estranged mother reflects the musicians own paradoxical postureCarrie & Lowell is both sacred and profane, Christian and queer, traditional and progressive, modern and postmodern.

Theologian and cultural critic Joel Mayward considers Carrie & Lowell as a mystical metamodern mementomori, Stevens symphonic (as opposed to systematic) approach to the questions of mortality, meaning, and God. Fusing critical observations with personal narrative, Mayward examines the unique audience reception of Carrie & Lowell and the questions it raises: in a world of division, how might Stevens affecting music act as a bridge of love between seemingly irreconcilable communities As Carrie & Lowell reminds us of the painful truth that were all gonna die, perhaps it also offers a glimpse of transcendence and hope on this side of death.

Author Bio

Joel Mayward is Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries, Theology and the Arts at George Fox University in Oregon. He is author of five books including The Dardenne Brothers Cinematic Parables: Integrating Theology, Philosophy, and Film (2022) and the forthcoming Theology and the Films of Christopher Nolan (2025). He is also a cultural critic and writes about the intersection of art and religion.