"The Age of Adz" is eclectic singer−songwriter Sufjan Stevens' first full−length studio album in five years, but it may not be what fans have been waiting for. While fans of Stevens' earlier music might be put off by the radical change in style, though, "The Age of Adz" is still a strong record.
The opening track, "Futile Devices," makes use of the mellow instrumentation and breathy singing that were Stevens' claims to fame, but the album immediately branches out into far more electronic and thickly layered arrangements. The mixes are saturated with numerous strange digital instruments and noises.
It's a stark contrast to the open, acoustic sounds of "Illinois" (2005) or "Michigan" (2003), but "The Age of Adz" is a totally unique and interesting departure for Stevens. He explores a lot of new territory and crafts an engaging series of songs exploring aging, bitterness and disillusionment.
Thematically, the album is darker and more personal than previous outings, but there's a wide range of musical approaches to these themes. Frequently, the entire atmosphere of a song will change multiple times within a single track.
The busy, almost cluttered arrangements allow for dynamics in both directions. Songs can build to heavy crescendos of noise but also drop back to just a single rhythm track accompanied by Stevens' intimate vocals.
Compared to the soft, airy vocals of previous albums, Stevens uses a wider range of deliveries in "The Age of Adz" to match the more extensive musical backdrops. Extensive use of different reverbs, echoes and other effects also adds to the variety of the vocals.
The heavy reliance on effects and electronics doesn't always pay off, however. During parts of "Impossible Soul," the 25−minute final track, Stevens employs the overused Auto−Tune, which seems out of place. Other songs, such as "Bad Communication," use jarring noises or screeches in a way that feels at odds with the simple vocal melodies and dreamy harmonies.
The best thing that can be said about "The Age of Adz" is that it is a very diverse production. One never knows what to expect next, and styles or instrumentation can change radically from moment to moment. This helps keep the long songs — and there are a lot of them — from feeling too long.
It can be hard to tell when one song has finished and another has started, but this usually works to Stevens' advantage. "The Age of Adz" is one of Stevens' most coherent albums, flowing seamlessly from start to finish. Compared to previous records, "The Age of Adz" is more about the listening experience of the whole album than of any track in particular. Songs that might not be immediately accessible as singles are improved when listened to in the context of the rest of the album. With the long final song especially, one needs to set aside a block of time to listen through and enjoy the experience.
Certainly, the record is never boring. Many tracks aren't as melodic as one might expect, but the complex layering of instruments and electronic noises, as well as the sheer variety of sounds, keeps the album interesting for its entire duration.
For those who can appreciate the more experimental aspects of the album, "The Age of Adz" definitely warrants a listen. It sounds like nothing else out there, and in the end, just the multitude of sounds and feelings within the larger, unifying framework mark "The Age of Adz" as a successful accomplishment.
