New Sufjan Stevens: "Majesty, Snowbird"

Believe me, I'm as burned out as you are. But sometimes you hear a song that reminds you of everything you like about an artist -- in one of those life-affirming moments, if you will. This is one of those songs.

Sufjan Stevens - "Majesty, Snowbird" (live): mp3 (link removed) (fixed, 10/1)

This is a re-imagining of the Stevens aesthetic -- over 9+ epic minutes, he abandons the stacatto repetitions that characterized his Illinois material and steps into something wider, grander, more glorious. These are movements, not sections; sweeping emotion, not clinical craft. It's a beautiful thing.