Mystery of Love: Sufjan Stevens Expands 'Carrie & Lowell'

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A deceased mother and a grieving son laid the groundwork for one of the best-reviewed records of 2015. A decade later, it's being expanded with unreleased material - and its creator is sharing some unexpected opinions on how he regards the album.

Sufjan Stevens' seventh album Carrie & Lowell will be reissued this Friday, May 30, for its 10th anniversary. The 2CD or 2LP set includes a small trove of seven unreleased demos - including a version of a track that would be the closest thing Stevens may have to a signature song - along with a 40-page book of artwork and a new essay by the singer/songwriter. Interestingly, Stevens' new notes are reportedly as brutally honest as the retrospective interview he just gave to NPR about the album, which he deemed "evidence of creative and artistic failure from my vantage point...manipulative and self-centered and solipsistic and self-loathing," going as far to say he's "kind of embarrassed" and even regrets making the album.

A self-assessment like that is fascinating against the reception Carrie & Lowell received at the time. Inspired by the 2012 death of his mother from cancer - a woman who dealt with substance and mental health issues and left Stevens in the care of his father at a young age - Stevens made attempts at healing through the songs on the album, which addressed universal ideas of losing a loved one and the feelings of one's own mortality that usually accompany such transitional moments. What likely frustrates Stevens about the album is his own admission that most of the sketches and memories of his parent were invented and unknowable. (The "Lowell" of the title was, perhaps, a bit more known to him; Lowell Brams was his mother's second husband, and helped Stevens established his still-running indie label Asthmatic Kitty.)

After earning honors from critics for two concept albums about Michigan (2003) and Illinois (2005) - suggestions that he would write volumes on the other 48 American states were tongue-in-cheek - and scoring a Top 10 album with the electro-folk The Age of Adz (2010), Carrie & Lowell was another critical and commercial success for Stevens, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and named on many year-end best-of lists. The set's bonus disc features a collection of unheard demos from the album sessions, including a 14-minute version of album track "Fourth of July" and a demo of the song "Mystery of Love," which wasn't released on the album but featured two years later on the soundtrack to the acclaimed dramatic film Call Me by Your Name. Directed by Luca Guadagnino and adapted from the novel by André Aciman, "Mystery of Love" played during the film's pivotal closing sequence, propelled by Timothée Chalamet's emotional, Oscar-nominated performance. (Stevens also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.)

Stevens has had an artistic life of triumphs and trials in recent years. Illinoise was adapted into an unlikely musical that made it to Broadway in 2024 and earned four Tony nominations (including Best Musical), winning a trophy for choreography. A year before, he'd released a new album, Javelin, dedicated to his partner who'd passed earlier in 2023; he also was hospitalized and diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, having to relearn how to walk. (Stevens' NPR interview indicates a diminishing interest in vocal music, seeking fulfillment in more ambient soundscapes.)

The expanded Carrie & Lowell is available this week, on May 30. The full track list and pre-order links are below; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Carrie & Lowell (10th Anniversary Edition) (Asthmatic Kitty AKR 099, 2025)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD/LP 1: Original album (released under same cat. # in 2005)